south. The roads were all dirt, though there may be some asphalt underneath, but it brought up a pretty good cloud of dust up through where the floorboard used to be. I was coughing a bit as I considered lighting one up but quickly decided against it.
We had just come around the bend heading into downtown, which was no more than a few homes a post office and a lot of nothing. The Sheriff had informed us passengers that Round Mountain used to be a popular mining town for gold and silver back in the day. We had seen a sign for CSL Laboratories with an arrow showing to turn of Jefferson Street. We didn’t turn but instead drove
around the block so to speak.
“Slow down Walt, I see one”, hollered the Captain as we pulled up behind an
old white Ford Crown Victoria. I could tell from the front bumper that it used to
be a police car.
I sensed that my concern over the Bel Ai r had already been addressed as the Captain was checking out the Crown Victoria while the Sheriff was keeping an eye out for traffic. It was ironic that traffic was a concern since we had seen no one
either driving or walking since we arrived in town.
The Captain motioned for us to find a spot to park so The Sheriff picked a spot behind an old broken down dump truck about two blocks before you get to Jefferson Street, which seemed an appropriate final resting spot for the Bel Air.
One final wheeze and the Bel Air were silent. We grabbed our gear along with the Captains and our backpacks of explosives and had a three block hike to where the Captain was sitting inside the Crown Victoria waiting for us. Damn, that was
fast. I may have to ask for lessons from him on breaking into cars that quick. It takes me much longer to do that when I’m playing Grand Theft Auto; I was impressed.
“Do you think anyone spotted us”, The Captain asked? “I can’t say for sure that there’s anyone here to see us. I haven’t seen a car since we left the casino”, The Sheriff replied. “How much gas do we have Bill, I mean besides your natural production that is”, The Sheriff snidely inquired? “Just a mark above a quarter of
a tank, but I could supply some more”, he snapped back. “That should hold us
until the truck arrives”, The Captain informed us.
The Sheriff took a peak at his watch, “Eight thirty five, so we have maybe twenty or twenty five minutes until the truck arrives. When the truck pulls around, me and Bill will be at the sign, so Billy you lay low in here until the truck passes the car then grab the two bags of c-4 and head for the back of the truck”,
The Sheriff instructed.
The Captain took in all this information as we cruised around the bend until we
hit Jefferson Street and turned right.
It took about three minutes to find the wide gravel road with the big blue sign with white lettering, ‘CSL Laboratories’. The Captain parked the car about thirty feet before the turnoff to the gravel road. I thought that this would be a good time for a quick smoke before I have to hide in the car.
The Sheriff and Captain were changing into fresh uniforms from the open trunk as I stayed out front and puffed away. I heard the trunk s lam shut and I turned to see two official looking law enforcement officers complete with their
side arms in their holster attached to their belt.
“Once this is over, how are we going to get away from here”, I wondered? The Sheriff looked up at the road and pointed, “Truck”. I tossed the cigarette off to the side of the dusty road and got back inside the car before the Truck had me in
view. Was he telling me that we were leaving here by truck or was he giving me a
heads up to jump back in the car? The answer to that one will have to wait, I
suppose.
The Sheriff and Captain stood out in the street to wave down the truck. The truck driver appeared confused but pulled over anyway. As the truck came to a halt, the Captain motioned for me to get out and head for the back of the truck.
“What’s all this crap about, we’ve never had to stop here before”, the driver
barked angrily? The Sheriff got a bit closer to impose his considerable size upon
the driver. “This is a new procedure and a standard procedure from here on out, by orders of CSL”, The Sheriff replied sternly. “Don’t make any sense, to do this. Does this mean they have to check it again once I get inside”, the driver still
confused?
Whap was the sound I heard followed by a body crumpling to the ground, sorry
but I don’t have a sound for the crumpling.
The Sheriff came around the back of the truck and threw open the roll up door. “Billy, hop in there and get me that bundle of rope over there by those pallets” the Sheriff asked? I was confused at first but I saw the rope and figured that all those boxes sitting on those wooden crates must be pallets.
I reached for the rope and tossed it to the Sheriff. “You might as well hang out
in there for now”, the Sheriff suggested as he caught the bundle of rope and went
around to the front of the truck to corral the unconscious driver. I heard a few
grunts and groans most of which I deduced was not coming from the driver.
I heard a bit of shuffling feet just below me when, “When we lift him up, you pull him in off to the side of the pallets”, the Sheriff instructed. A hefty groan and up came the knocked out driver. The Sheriff had him on his shoulders like he was a bag of peat moss and not so gently dumped in just inside the open truck bed.
I marveled at the hogtieing job they performed on him and as I grabbed ahold
of some rope and started pulling. He was no lightweight as I struggled to pull him just a few feet. I noticed the company badge that was attached to his shirt pocket and pulled it off. “Hey Sheriff”, he turned back towards me as I tossed him the badge. “Good catch, this will come in handy”, as he left to join the Captain back
at the trunk of our stolen ex-police car so they could change outfits more suitable
to that of delivery drivers.
I took these few moments of peace to have another smoke and perhaps finish
this one, while sitting on the edge of the opened bed of the truck, dangling my
feet and awaiting my chance to flatten Round Mountain.
65
Mr. Catrell was seated at his new desk inside his new office as Samuels gave a quick knock on the door jam. Catrell motioned for him to come in and pointed to the chair in front of the desk. “Nothing personal, but I know what’s strapped underneath the middle desk drawer, so if you don’t mind”, as Samuels pointed at the desk awaiting Catrell to remove the hidden revolver.
Two quick clicks and Catrell put the revolver on the desk, “There, do you feel
better now”? “Somewhat”, Samuels replied as he sat down. “What did you find out about Myers? Did he say anything as to why he didn’t bring back Billy”, Catrell inquired?
Samuels ran his hand through his thick dark head of hair which Catrell was sure that Samuels employed this tactic just to piss him off. “Myer’s just kept muttering something about some feeling he had and that he would never harm family. Any clue as to what he means by that”, Samuels wondered?
“That does make things a bit clearer. You see, Mr. Baily had told me some time back that Billy was adopted and had a twin brother, not identical but fraternal. Mr. Baily had added that the boys were born in Syracuse, New York and all we
had was the location of Billy’s brother, who went to a family in Pittsburg. It wasn’t until a few years later that the location of Billy had been found and we have been monitoring them ever since”, Catrell explained.
“But what was so important about Billy, that Myers couldn’t provide us? Do we know what Myers name and or Billy’s last name used to be before they were adopted”, Samuels inquired, in search of answers? “First off, Billy was struck by lightning which was a huge benefit for us so we could study and then duplicate
the process artificially.
/> Second and most important, we were just trying to keep everything in the family so to speak”, Catrell teased. “I’m not sure that I follow”, Samuels added. Catrell pulled himself up closer to the desk and offered, “The boy’s real last name
is Marrick. That’s the only clue you get to figure the rest out”, Catrell added with
a smirk.
Samuels just sat there with his mouth hanging open as Mr. Catrell continued,
“Yes, Papa Marrick had an affair during a business trip to Washington D.C. He
couldn’t afford to have this information floating around the tabloids so he convinced his weekend tryst that he would send her monthly checks to take care of things, but stopped once the boys were put up for adoption”. “What happened to the mother”, Samuels asked? Catrell just sat there and smiled,
“Well, you see that after the adoptions, Marrick decided that she might become
somewhat dangerous with the information she had, so she was disposed of”.
That came as no surprise to Samuels who had seen numerous people come and go, except they actually don’t go, they end up at the bottom of the conveniently located mini canyon on the backside of the compound. That bit of news proved to be intriguing to Dr. Samuels, so much that he just might be able
to tweak his mind programming of Myers to eliminate the current emotional
problem he’s been experiencing now that he understands where the emotions
stem from. That was information that would have been useful months ago when he started with Myers transformation. He would always be wary of Catrell and has been for years as his methods like his predecessors before him made him ill but yet he continued since no one else would be able to accomplish what he had
with all the resources available to him that would not be in the private sector.
66
The Delivery truck roared to life as the vibrations in the bed of the truck had
made the delivery driver awaken somewhat with a smattering of moans and
groans. Tied up and laying on his left side I could see dried blood that came from
his ear. His mostly grey hair was matted to his head from sweat stemming from heat building up in the back of the truck bed or trailer as I was corrected by the
Sheriff earlier.
The Captain came around the back where I was sitting and finishing my cigarette. “Hang on tight Billy, it’s going to be a bumpy ride”, as he held his hand out for me to help him. “Can’t we ride up front”, I tried to reason? “No, Walt says to stay back here until that big door of theirs opens up and then you and I will take care of whatever security they have at the gate”, The Captain sounded as
excited as I was.
I too was excited but also a tad scared as even though we kind of know what we’re walking into, that there is still the unknown that just might surprise us and I wanted to be ready for whatever awaits.
The Sheriff put the truck into gear after a couple of grinds and we lurched
forward. The previous driver had just opened his eyes as the Sheriff had just made a sharp turn at not a low enough speed. The Captain and I hung onto the canvas straps that were holding the pallets in place. The now awake driver had no such course for balance as he slid across the bed of the truck and smacked his
head into the steel siding of the truck and quickly returned to slumber status.
“What about him”, as I pointed to the unconscious driver? The Captain shrugged his shoulders and replied, “If he was to happen to slide out the back at some point, all I could say is, whoops”!
Comfort was becoming only a faded memory as we continued to bounce around the back of the trailer like a couple of rag dolls. The Sheriff was wasting no time in getting to our destination, though I wasn’t sure when that was going to
be. The Captain asked me for a smoke to which I obliged his request and lit another one for myself. We had smooth or should I say smoother sailing for a short period of time when our transportation seemed to be heading up an extremely steep hill. I could hear the Sheriff downshift the truck to gather more speed and once he got it in gear we went uphill at a much quicker pace.
Another sharp curve came up without notice and the Captain and I braced ourselves with the straps from the pallets and the pallets themselves. Our other passenger had decided, though not of his own accord to exit the vehicle without saying good bye. He slid right out the back of the trailer. “Guess he missed his last stop”, the Captain chortled.
“He did leave in a bit of a hurry. Hope it wasn’t something that I said”, I added to the sarcasm? Our quick exiting passenger bounced slightly as he hit the ground and rolled two times before stopping against a hefty sized boulder. After my sarcasm subsided I suddenly felt sorry for the guy. It wasn’t his fault that these
animals were after me. The Captain on the other hand continued with his
chuckling.
The curves and incline of this mountain seemed endless. We had been back in
this trailer for a good fifteen minutes and I was tiring of trying to maintain my balance. The truck was starting to slow down and I heard a loud thumping coming from the cab where the Sheriff was driving. “We must be close Billy; he gave two thumps on the window to let us know that there were two guards to
deal with.
We were stopped as the Sheriff got out and we could hear some discussion just outside the trailer. “I’m the temporary driver, the other guy called in sick and they called me and here I am. So if you would be kind enough to show me where
the supplies go I’ll finish quickly and be on my way”, the Sheriff improvised in a convincing manner. “Fine, hey Collins, go check the back and then I’ll show him where to take the stuff”, the gruff voiced guard barked.
We could hear footsteps approaching the open trailer, crunchy in nature as I imagined that gravel was the pavement of choice. The Captain and I tried to hide against the sides of the trailer as the approaching guard was closing in on us. I looked over at the Captain and he had his revolver in his right hand ready to go. The smile on the Captains face was not the easy going careful and calculating Captain that I’ve come to know in the short time I’ve known him. This was the face of a man who was enjoying his work a little too much. I kn ow that he was trying to help the Sheriff help me through all of this but his grin was evil in
appearance. He enjoyed watching the other driver slide out of the truck just a bit
too much. His change in personality came quick and I’m not sure how to deal
with it.
The one named Collins came around the corner of the truck and was about to
look inside when the Captain unloaded three shots into him. Collins blonde hair
seemed to stand out straight as his hat flew off from the shots. It seemed like
everything was happening in slow motion. I could see two shots to his chest and one right above his eyes. His eyes rolled back into his head as he finally collapsed on the gravel below on his back. The blood was spreading fast through his light grey shirt. The CSL label above his left pocket was almost unreadable from the
blood.
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Intuition told me to hop out of the truck and put some distance between me and the Captain. The gravel voice guard hollered, “What the hell was that shit Collins”? The Sheriff followed the other guard closely until old gravel voice came
around the corner to the back of the truck.
He immediately saw his friend on his back covered in blood and before he could turn back to the Sheriff, the Captain fired three rounds at him. This guard was short and real stocky. He filled out his uniform shirt much more so that
Collins. His crew cut hair was a combination of dark brown and grey, but it was
mostly grey. He grabbed his chest where he was shot twice and pr
obably didn’t know he had been shot in the temple as well. He fell to his knees and then face first in the gravel.
“What the hell is wrong with you Bill? We were supposed to knock them out since we’re not going to be in there long”. The Sheriff saw the gleam in Bill’s eye’s and knew what was wrong. “Okay, new plan, Bill you stay with the truck once we get through the gate here and keep it running. Billy and I will run in and plant as much of this c-4 as we can and haul ass back outside. Bill, are you okay w ith
that”?
I could see some confusion on the Captains face while the Sheriff was explaining his new duties. “Bill, once were done, we’ll stop and get your
medication. Your eyes are starting to glass over”. The Captain managed a nod and opened the driver’s door to the truck and got in. The Sheriff motioned for me to follow him to the guard shack about fifteen feet to our left.
“What’s wrong with him”, I wondered? “Bottom line is that he’s still shell
shocked since his tour in Vietnam. Today they call it something different, but he needs the medicine to maintain a normal level or he’ll go bat shit crazy. I’ve only seen him like this once and I don’t want to see it again”, the Sheriff explained.
Inside the guard shack were four control buttons, one for opening the gate
and one to close it. There was one that read stop and the fourth that read ‘Main’. We were hoping that hitting that button would open the oversized half- moon shaped door about eighty feet ahead of us. The Sheriff hit the open button and
then hit the one named Main. The chain link fenced creaked its way open quickly
and a large whoosh sounded off as the half- moon door started its opening
process.
I started to point at the dead guards but was stopped by the Sheriff as he pointed to the truck. I got the hint and hopped in the back of the truck again as the Sheriff had the Captain drive us to our final destination as he hopped in the
The Road to Round Mountain II - The Alliance: By C.G Roberts Page 24