by RW Krpoun
“What is it?”
“They fought their way through one of my checkpoints, killing thirteen operatives. Then they set an explosive booby-trap and waited. They used sniper fire to kill the ground team’s leader and the leader of a response force, and to damage both groups’ vehicles. It turns out they had also disabled every vehicle left at that checkpoint, so further pursuit was significantly delayed.”
“Amazing.”
“There is more, sir. Sergeant Burleson called me, apparently he got the number from the checkpoint leader. I’m having the number changed and informing all my assets, but that is just a side point-I think we may have underestimated this man.”
“You think he is more intelligent that we have previously concluded?”
“Perhaps. He definitely has better help than I ever expected. Those people with him are just…nobodies, sir. As you said, dross. But they are proving most difficult.”
“Difficulties exist to be overcome. Get back onto the problem and get me that payload.”
The main body of the Gnomes had set up in a small roadside picnic area on the edge of the Ouachita National Forest which consisted of a few concrete picnic tables and graveled parking areas. The real reason for its choice was that it was beneath a tall stand of red oaks which shadowed the entire area.
The trio had abandoned the sedan in a stand of trees a quarter mile up the road and walked the rest of the way, arriving just as the sun was setting. Chip and Sylvia were sitting at the picnic table nearest the road entrance as the three Gnomes walked up.
“Hey guys,” Chip waved. “We’re on watch.”
“Good for you,” Marv waved at the bugs circling his head. “What did you do to the RV?”
“That was Sylvia’s idea: she spray-painted cling wrap we stuck to the sides. Now it sort of matches the color configuration of the brand with the sunroof. It only works while we’re parked, but it can’t hurt.”
“Good idea,” the Ranger admitted. The RV did look radically different.
“Sylvia, this is Marv, our leader, Brick, who I told you about, and Addison. Guys, this is Sylvia Santiago.”
Pleasantries were exchanged and Brick and Addison headed for Gnomehome. Marv paused to survey the area. “Any traffic go by?”
“None. How did it go? JD just said you guys were on your way back.”
“Good, I got the leader of the Los Lobos response force and the head of the FASA ground team, Brick and Addison killed the radiators, and the IED definitely took the shine off their day. They’re not on our trail at the moment.”
“Cool. Hey, check out my new rifle. Isn’t it awesome? It even has these canvas pouches on the stock holding two fifteen-round magazines for a last-ditch emergency, and I’ve got thirty-round magazines for regular use. It’s got a holographic sight.”
“Nice. That’s an M-1 carbine, the military used it a lot in World War Two and Korea. Only problem is that the ammo isn’t terribly common.”
“Yeah, but we picked up an unopened case of twelve hundred rounds, and about five hundred more in boxes.”
“Then you’re set for a long time; I see you’re hanging on to your cut-down shotgun. How did we do on supplies?”
“Enough to set up the van for the women we recued and still add a couple days’ worth of food and water to our supplies. Bear took a couple cases of beer along, and we got enough household goods to equip the trailer and make up some shortfalls in the RV.”
“What about weapons?”
“A lot of ammo. Most of what they had was flash junk, Tec-9s and that sort of thing, and JD gave some of the decent stuff to the women who left in the van, but we ended up with this carbine, pistols for Sylvia and Bambi, and a couple revolvers. The double-barreled shotgun is kept in the pickup.”
“Bambi?”
“Bear’s girlfriend, the tall blond? She’s OK.”
“Bambi,” Marv muttered and headed towards the RV.
“He seems a little strange,” Sylvia observed after the Ranger was out of earshot.
“He has a lot of responsibility,” Chip shrugged. “And he’s done a lot of combat tours overseas. I don’t think we would have gotten this far without him.”
“You seem to be a very good soldier, very brave.”
The husky Gnome blushed. “I…am learning. That’s the thing about Marv, he figures out how to bring out the best in us, and he isn’t threatened by people with good ideas, like your paint strips. You saw he stayed behind-he’s always where it’s toughest. You feel better following a guy like that. Motivated.”
“I think all of you are heroes. You, especially.”
Chip bobbed his head nervously. “Yeah…well…you do what you gotta do.” He fumbled for something to say. “Hey, did you know that this forest’s name means ‘good hunting grounds’? The Spanish came through in 1541.”
“Tell me more,” the girl smiled, scooting a little closer.
“All right,” Marv called the Gnomes together in the main area of the RV. He was freshly bathed, in a clean uniform, and had just polished off a large ham sandwich. “So. For those who haven’t heard, that roadblock was for us-FASA set up six of them in an arc across Arkansas to catch us, only we were moving a little faster than they expected.”
“They want us bad,” Dyson observed.
“Exactly. Which means that so far our mission is a success-FASA just sent seventy-odd hired guns to trap us, not to mention a team of their own people. Those are resources which could do a lot more damage than they did today.” The Ranger surveyed the somber faces around him. “I don’t expect any of you to be high-fiving over killing uninfected people-its not a great thing. But if we hadn’t dealt with those guys they would either be still robbing, raping, and murdering at that roadblock, or going about on some more of FASA’s dirty work. Like it or not, we are at war, and they were the enemy.”
“I prefer fighting zombies, myself,” Chip said, the image of a man’s face dissolving into a bloody ruin flashing across his mind.
“I do, too. Fact is, I would rather be doing a lot of things other than what we’ve got facing us right now. But FASA and the zeds aren’t going to back off, so its root hog, or die. You have to pick a side and live with it. Me, well, we are playing pretty rough, but we’re not flex-cuffing women to a bed and having our way with ‘em. You have to pick where you stand.”
“But back to the point, we’ve got them riled. I tagged the leader of the FASA ground team and the head punk of a bunch of gang bangers, and the IED killed or wounded three more bangers. They’ll follow us a lot more carefully in the future, which was the entire point of the exercise. I even called up their controller and messed with her mind a little. They still think we have the payload.”
“Speaking of which, did you call your boss?” JD asked.
“Yeah, and the real payload arrived safe and sound. By now they’re getting it sorted out to start work.”
“So, now what’s the plan?” Bear asked lazily, a sweating silver can of Coors in one big paw.
“We’re about a hundred miles of back roads from the Oklahoma border. Once across into Oklahoma the terrain will make aerial observation easier, but actually catching up to us will be tougher because there are more back roads. I figure they will stop chasing us and start trying to put forces into blocking positions between us and the destination. My plan is keep north and try to circle around to the west; maybe we can keep them convinced the payload is still in play for another couple days. Along the way we’ll do whatever good we can, and zing FASA as the opportunity presents itself. Unless anyone has any better ideas.”
“So, no TV tonight?” Chip asked after a silence had indicated that no suggestions were forthcoming.
“You shouldn’t be playing with a remote,” Bear drawled. “The buttons you should be pushing have Cuban subtitles.”
The husky Gnome flipped the biker off.
“OK, cut cards for guard duty. Those of you with girlfriends or whatever,” Marv winked at Chip, who was getting red
. “Will have to deal with getting less sleep.”
“JD,” the Ranger drew the promoter aside after the cards had been cut. “Chip said we got ammo, a couple spare revolvers, and his carbine. Anything else?”
“I put my shotgun into reserve and picked up this bad boy,” JD held up a folding stock MP-5 with a tactical light bulging out beneath the barrel. “But that’s it for weaponry.”
“OK. What do you think about the women?”
“Good for morale, and the second vehicle plus the changes on the roof might throw off a spotter in a plane.”
“All right, I just wanted your input.”
“You guys did one hell of a job out there, Marv,” JD was thoughtful. “I got an earful on the trip here. We’re building something out of this group.”
“Yeah,” the Ranger nodded. “I feel it, too. These are some good guys, a good mix of skills. I’ve got an idea for the future, assuming we have one. I’ll run it past you once I have it straight in my head.”
Later that night Marv sat in the front passenger seat on guard, staring out into the night and pondering Gato. Cutting off the man’s ear didn’t bother him-he could still hear on that side, after all, and after seeing the girl bound to that bed and interrupting Gato in the midst of a sexual assault he thought an ear was pretty small potatoes. It hadn’t been personal-all he wanted was for Gato to tell him what he needed to know, and so long as there wasn’t hatred or other emotions involved it shouldn’t be much of a sin.
Maiming him, now, that was something else. In Afghanistan he had kept shooting after fighters went down because people are tougher than they look, and on a couple occasions he had finished off fatally-wounded enemy who would never make it back alive, but this was different.
Part of it was stress, the invisible monster that rode your back and could overwhelm you. For the last four days he had been running and gunning, one step ahead of catastrophe while the entire world fell apart. And part of it was just being fed up, being tired of being the guy who dug deep in order to carry his own load and that of others while dirtbags like Gato spent their entire lives being nothing more than a burden on society and a bane to their fellow man. Part of it was Doc and Captain Jack dying in the RV park because crazy or not they were trying to make a positive impact. And part of it was knowing that despite seeing his buddies die and getting his ear cut off, Gato still saw nothing wrong with the choices that had led him to that junction in his life. It had been wrong to hobble him, but Marv couldn’t walk away knowing that the banger was just X amount of time from another rape, robbery, or murder. His ankle would heal, but Gato was not going to be running any victims down on foot.
The flu was bad, but guys like Gato were a virus as well, and there was only one way to deal with a virus.
The task was daunting, but Sophia labored away at it. She was pulling what breeder and assault cells remained alive and loyal in the eastern region of District 13 and sending them up into the Texas Panhandle region, systematically erecting a barrier line while the assets she had from District 12 came in from the east to drive the Yard Gnome Action Team into the net. They could run, and they could even eliminate a few FASA assets, but they couldn’t change where they were bound, and unless that incompetent ass Nelson could pry a helicopter and a security team from the tiny SpecOps pool they would be run down like rabbits.
And a rescue for the payload was out-FASA had shot its bolt in terms of military and government assets willing to take direct action, but they still had enough sympathizers and subjects willing to sell information that keeping track of the Department of Defense’s top assets was easy enough. While the government slapped at shadows, she was going to snatch up the only sample of the pure virus and renew FASA’s war with a vengeance.
And possibly new leadership.
The phone buzzing brought her back to the present, and she was surprised to see that it was the line that Sergeant Burleson had compromised, although it was a different number on the caller ID. “Hello?”
“Is this Prime?” a man asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m Mapplethorpe, you can call me Bear.”
She bit her lip-another of the Gnomes, and the one they thought most likely to be open to an offer. She frantically brought up his file. “What can I do for you, Bear?”
“Three things, the first is to tell me your name.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m not working this blind. If we’re going to come to an understanding, you will need to level the playing field.”
“I’m Sophia Travis.” She had thought to lie, but discarded it: she had a safe identity ready in case FASA failed. Unlike Doctor C, she was not fighting for a cause-there would always be more opportunities to bring chaos into the world.
“OK, Sophia, is the phone you’re on text-capable?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’m texting you the specs on my payment, which is in industrial diamonds. That’s item number two.”
“We offered gold.”
“I know, but firstly I’m not interested in carrying around five hundred pounds, and secondly people might not be buying jewelry after all this, but they will still need to cut things.”
“All right,” she examined the text. “I think we can do this.”
“If you can’t, I’ll hang up right now.”
“We can do this,” she assured him. “Give me a moment to send an e-mail. All right, what is the third point?”
“You deliver the stones in person.”
“I am not a field operative.”
“That’s too bad. Unless the bag is in your hands, the payload goes straight to its destination.”
“Bear, I think I should point out that there are a lot of resources being committed to stopping you. You’ve been lucky once, but are you willing to bet your life on just luck?”
“You weren’t with us,” he said, and it annoyed her to hear the amusement in his voice. “It wasn’t all luck, and it’s been more than once. We’ve kept getting stronger, and you’re getting weaker. I can help this get to the goal line and do well with Uncle Sugar, or you can make it worth my time. Which is it going to be?”
“I think you’re too confident.”
“You spoke to Marv yesterday-how did the bribe go?” He chuckled. “Do you think those gang bangers just laid down and died? Killing him from the front won’t be easy, and if he goes into anything risky he has a gimmick rigged with a timer and a thermite grenade-if he can’t deliver the payload he’ll destroy it. If you want the payload intact, you deal with me. If you just want to stop the government from getting it, maybe you can do it with the stuff you’re doing.”
“So why the change of heart?”
“No change of heart-until yesterday I didn’t realize how much that thing was worth to you. I thought you were just trying to stop it from getting to the Feds-the news that you want it, and how bad you want it, well, that opens up a whole new vista.”
She thought hard while looking over the man’s file. “You people have already launched one ambush-how do I know that you aren’t planning another?”
“Would a guy who is as true-blue as Marv waste time just to score some money?” Bear was scornful. “You must have data on him-the guy is a straight as an arrow. The stunt yesterday was to slow you guys down. Pure business. He’s not going to deviate an inch from his planned endgame.”
“So how do you plan to make this exchange?” Sophia dragged a legal pad into place.
“I’ll tell you once you’ve got the stones and are relatively close, but I’ve got all it worked out. You need to secure my money and get to southeast Oklahoma. Be ready with a helicopter or fast ground transport.”
“You’re talking about me making a lot of effort based on one phone call,” Sophia did her best to sound doubtful while she typed furiously.
“One day of your life,” Bear said indifferently. “Like the end of the world will stop because you’re out of the office for a few hours.”
“Tel
l me something to make me believe you. A sign of faith.”
He was silent for a moment. “Marv knows you track us by the satellite feed for our TV. He knows you’re looking for us by air. We’ve altered the RV so you couldn’t possibly spot it, and he turns on the TV to tell you what he wants you to know.”
“Old news,” Sophia said lightly, angrily shaking a fist at the wall.
“OK, your gangsta net was a complete failure-we were well past it when he figured out what you were doing. Marv had us double back to hit that roadblock just to draw the ground team in.”
Her cheeks burned, but she controlled her voice. “Interesting. How about some details on this hand-off?”
“The way I’ve planned it, it goes down in a place over-run with infected. You come with no more than four people, counting clerks, drivers, assistants, spiritual guides, and pilots. You and I exchange gifts, and we escape in our own fashion. If you come by helicopter, the crew counts towards the four, and if I see anything that looks like guns on the chopper you get squat.”
She thought about it-doing it in zombie-controlled territory was a smart move, as a silent double-cross would be difficult to arrange. Difficult, but not impossible.
“When?”
“Sometime today. Marv plans to deliver the payload no later than twenty-three hundred hours, that’s seventeen hours from now. Figure you’re got a window of fifteen hours.”
“That’s not enough time for me to set up my end and get there,” Sophia said.
“OK. Goodbye.”
“Maybe I could,” she said, not too hasty. “Call me in an hour.”
“No can do; I was lucky to get bars now. I can’t promise another voice communication. Cell service sucks, thanks to you guys.”
“All right, what about the Net? E-mail?”
“Yeah, I can find wifi.”
“Use this address,” she read it off to him and had him repeat it back to her, then added a phone number. “This is a landline phone that can relay calls to me.”
“OK. Hop to it, Sophie: the clock is running.”