“I am fine General Tusan,” Ky said.
“You remembered my name. You were in a great deal of pain. I didn’t think you would remember it,” he said and waved for Ky to sit down.
“That is a remarkable story. Six thousand armed citizens let by this General Kato.”
“General Tay,” Ky said quickly.
“Yes. General Tay.”
“And I said I thought they numbered between four and five thousand. Not six thousand.”
“I see. What else can you tell me about this army?”
“At the rate they were traveling, they could only be a few days from the city. They may have already divided into two groups by now. Tay drives his people hard. He seems to be on a mission to take Beijing.”
“Yes, so it would seem.”
“And even though you have been beaten and had your fingers broken, you are here because you want to see the city stand. Do you still feel that way?”
“I did when I arrived. I am not so sure now. I came here to warn you but instead I was treated as a criminal. This is the second time in my life that I have been treated this way. I was younger the first time and even though I knew the charges were false, I accepted my fate. I no longer know what I should believe in,” Ky said.
The General studied Ky for some time.
“Why did you tell the men at the border about the army coming?”
“They seemed like they might just shoot me. I had taken a great risk and I didn’t want to die before I was able to at least tell someone. The Major at the border seemed not to be listening to me at first. Once I told him the story he reported it to you or whomever his superior is.”
“Do you know we have had several hundred defections? Men sneaking off in the night?”
“Why? I don’t understand. Isn’t it their duty to fight to save the city? Why are they in the Army then?” Ky said, acting surprised.
“Yes. I wondered the same thing.”
“What will happen to Beijing if they continue to run like cowards?”
“Beijing will fall.”
“But can’t something be done? They will kill me for coming here,” Ky said.
“Perhaps. Come with me,” the General said and led him into the next room. A map was draped over a table and two Colonels were studying it when they walked in. They jumped to attention but he waved them to go on about their business.
“This is Ky Kinjo. He is going to point out where he last saw this army of General Tay and where he thinks they will attack from,” the General told them.
“Show us.”
Ky studied the map for several seconds and pointed to a place on the map, “I left from here. They were about five kilometers behind us. We were to have food ready for their arrival the next day. All I know for sure is that one group was going to come straight in from the west and the other would head north. Someone mentioned Xianghe was where they would split off. I do not know this for fact. It could be a rumor and nothing more. The attack would take place two days after they split to give the group going north time to get into place.”
“What kind of armaments did they have?” one of the Colonels asked.
“Armaments?”
“Guns. The big ones?”
“Ah. Yes they seemed to have quite a few. I don’t know how they got them but they were pulled behind trucks.”
“Trucks?”
“Yes. They were old ones but they could pull the guns and carried a lot of ammunition.”
“Where did they intend to attack in the north?”
“I do not know. I never heard where they would attack from in the north. I do know they seem to think the air field is an important target.”
“Yes, that makes sense. They can use it as a base for their operations,” the General interjected.
“They will attack from here, Shunyi. It is close to the air base and there is nothing in the way to stop them.”
“We need to get our plans ready to defend the city immediately.”
“You may go Kinjo but do not leave the city.”
“Go? Go where? I have nowhere to go any longer,” Ky said.
“I suppose that may be true. Beijing owes you a debt. I will give you a letter that grants you safe passage out of the city. I can offer you nothing more. I would suggest however that you do not try to re-join you former army.”
“General, one thing you can be assured of is that I will certainly not go north or east. I intend to go south to Tanggu as fast as possible.”
“I will have the letter for you in a few minutes,” he said.
Ky took a seat outside the room until someone came and gave him a letter granting him safe passage and signed by the General. Ky bowed quickly and left. With any luck, it would totally catch them off guard.
~~
“Do you believe him General?”
“No. I think he is trying to fool us into believing he is trying to help save the city. If he was really interested he would have stayed and fought.”
“Maybe he is not a fighter. He ran from the other group.”
“No you are wrong. Anyone that has worked in the mines is never going to be on the side of the military. This is all a trick to make us fortify the wrong places. I let him go so he could report back that we fell for his lies. I want everyone but a minimum of troops to report immediately to the west and south sides of the city. Do this only at night and keep them out of sight during the day. I do not want them to know we have not fallen for his deception.”
“But General, if he was telling the truth they will be able to walk right into the city and eliminate our troops.”
“You will do as I say. This is not a debate. It is an order,” the General said harshly.
“Yes sir General. Right away.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
USA
“Welcome to Colorado Springs. Where did you come from?” the indoctrination officer asked.
“Just got in from Tennessee.”
“Really? We haven’t had too many from that neck of the woods. Glad to have you join us.”
“Thank you. Mighty glad to be here. So, what do I do?”
“Just fill out this paper and answer the questions. When you are done, I’ll process you and we can start to get you acclimated into the community.”
“What about food and a place to sleep?”
“We will take care of all of that once you fill out the paper,” she said, handing him a clipboard and pencil. He went over to a desk and pulled out a chair and started to fill in the information. When he was finished, he looked it over carefully and brought it back to the woman.
“Great. You’re Kyle Whitter from Fredrick, Tennessee. Well Kyle, is it okay if I call you Kyle?”
“Sure. That’ll be just fine.”
“As I was saying Kyle. We have an orientation program that everyone goes through. It takes care of all the questions probably buzzing around in your head. I know you are in for a big adjustment but it's not too difficult really. Everyone knows we have to pull together if we are going to get this country back up and running. See that door over there?” she said, pointing across the room.
“Yes maam, I do.”
“Take this over there and they will complete your processing. They will get you the necessary things to get you started.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it,” he said and headed across the room.
Kyle Whitter was a tall handsome man who was thirty-seven according to the information he had given. He listed Nashville as where he was born. He was soft spoken and had a pleasant way about him that made people feel comfortable around him. His blue eyes and sandy colored hair complemented his rugged good looks. He was no pretty boy but he was definitely nice looking.
“Hi Miss. I was sent over here to get oriented,” he said.
She looked up from her stack of papers and immediately smiled.
“Hi, I’m Alice. You are?”
“Kyle,” he said handing her the papers he had been given.
“Kyle, nice to h
ave you join us in Colorado Springs. I know you have a lot of questions but I hope by the time you leave I will have answered all of them. First off is getting you settled in with food and housing. Did you come by car?”
“Nope. I got a ride part of the way,” he told her.
“Then you will need transportation. We provide that as well.”
“Really? You provide all of this stuff? How do I pay for it? I ain’t got much money,” he told her.
“Don’t worry about that just yet. Are you hungry? When is the last time you ate?”
“Heck, sometime yesterday.”
“Oh goodness. Okay, change of plans. Across the street is a small dinner. Here is a voucher. Take it over there and they will feed you. After you are done, you can come back and we will get started.”
“Ah heck, I can wait.”
“No, really, you should eat. We don’t want anyone going hungry,” she said.
“If you insist,” he said, flashing a nice set of white teeth.
“You know, I haven’t eaten lunch yet. Why don’t I walk you over and we can talk while we eat.”
“That would be a really nice treat. I’d like that a lot,” he said.
Alice walked with him to the dinner and they ordered the daily special: vegetable pot pie and mashed potatoes with gravy.
“So, where were you when everything changed?”
“In a cave. I’m a spelunker.”
“A spelunker? That’s like a cave explorer isn’t it?”
“Sure. That’s as good a description as any.”
“So the cave is what saved you.”
“I reckon so. Everyone alive seems to have been underground. If you were outside I guess you just didn’t have a chance.”
“Wasn’t it horrible? All those people just gone.”
“Pretty gruesome.”
“What did you do before that? I mean, you aren’t a professional spelunker are you?”
“Heck no. That’s just a hobby. I was a bronco rider.”
“A what?”
“I was in the Rodeo. Rode buckin’ broncos.”
“Really? Wow. That must have been exciting.”
“Kept me busy,” he said.
“Can you make a living doing that?”
“Sure can. A pretty nice one. That is if you’re good enough.”
“And were you? Good enough?” Alice asked.
“Pretty darn good,” he said. “Enough about me, what about Colorado Springs?”
“Let’s see. We have close to eighteen thousand people living here now. We are expecting a fairly large group next week coming from Michigan and Ohio. They said close to a thousand.”
“So people are still coming in.”
“Every day.”
“With all these new people, how in the world do you keep everyone getting along? You know, going in the same direction?”
“We have excellent leadership and everyone knows what is expected from them,” she replied.
“But still. Someone has to get out of line. How to you police all these people?”
“Believe it or not, we don’t have much of a police department in the normal sense. The military handles most of it. We only have a few strict rules that can’t be broken. I’ll go over all of that back at the station.”
“How big is the military?”
“I don’t know. Pretty big, but I don’t have clue as to the actual size.”
“I guess it don’t matter much if they get the job done.”
“They do. No problems there,” she said.
After they ate she took him back over to the orientation center and explained the procedure. A medical checkup was required for all new incoming people.
“I’m supposed to come here for a checkup.”
Just one moment,” the RN said picking up the phone. A few seconds later Rachel came to the desk.
“New arrival?”
“Yes, that’s him over there,” she said and added in a low voice, “Isn’t he gorgeous?”
“Not bad, not bad,” she whispered back. Rachel walked over to the man.
“Hi, you’re Kyle Whitter?”
“Guilty as charged.”
“Okay, Mr. Whitter, if you will follow me we can get this over with in a few minutes.”
“I’d be happy to follow you,” he said, flashing a smile.
Rachel quickly smiled back but dropped it just as fast. He was smooth, just a tad too smooth for her. She led him down a hall and into an examination room.
“The doctor will be right in. It won’t take but a few minutes.”
“Should I take my clothes off?”
“That won’t be necessary,” Rachel said.
“I don’t mind.”
“I would,” she said and closed the door.
~~
“Hey honey, how was your day?” Randy asked when Rachel came in.
“Same old, same old. Got a bunch of new people in today.”
“Great, the more the better.”
“I don’t know about one of them. A guy named Kyle Whitter. Thinks he is a gift to women. Kind of tried to put the hustle on me and just about everyone else. Even tried it on Dr. Keller. She came out of the room kind of upset.”
“Probably just hasn’t been around women too much lately. If he has been traveling a long time he could be just scouting the territory.”
“Men do that? Even when they just get someplace new?”
“Sure. That’s the best time. Start marking territory kind of.”
“He isn’t going to go around peeing everyplace is he?”
“Never can tell about men,” Randy said and put his arms around her and kissed her on the neck.
“I can tell you one thing buster. Your territory ends at the front door, got it?”
“Why would I want to go anyplace else?”
“Ooooh, good answer,” she said and turned and kissed him.
“So how are my girls?”
“Little toot was fussy all afternoon. I hope she isn’t coming down with something.”
“Where is she?”
“Sleeping. I just got her down a few minutes ago.”
“I’d better not wake her.”
“Only if you want the duty the rest of the night. She had a little diarrhea.”
“Ugh, TMI. I think I’ll just let her sleep.”
“Coward.”
“You bet.”
“So what about your day?”
“We have a couple of situations brewing that may turn ugly.”
“What kind of situations,” Rachel asked, handing him a plate to dry.
“A group of about forty have decided they want to take off on their own. Go see what’s going on is how they put it.”
“And that’s bad?” she asked.
“Not bad but not good either. I mean, we are trying to get people to come here not spread out.”
“Randy, we are all nomads. Look where we are right now. So they want to go. You don’t intend to stop them do you?”
“That’s not the only problem.”
“What is it then?” Rachel asked.
“Think about what is out there for the taking and the problems it could cause down the road,” Randy said.
“Such as what?”
“For one, the money in all the banks. Gold, diamonds, all sorts of valuable items that anyone could get if they wanted.”
“We don’t need money so how is that an issue?” Rachel asked.
“We will have to have some kind of currency at some point. Right now we are all equal but at some point we will reach a critical mass and then things will have to change. Free enterprise will start to take over. It’s great as long as we have enough of everything but eventually people will want more. They always have and always will. That is what has driven America in the past. We will revert back to that; it’s just a matter of time.”
“So we issue new money. Like they did after the Civil War.”
“Even then it was based on the gold standar
d and there is a lot of gold out there that anyone could just waltz in and take. Someone is going to recognize that at some point.”
“But we can’t hold people hostage either.”
“And therein lies the dilemma. How to handle those who want to leave. It’s not only money but biological materials, nuclear materials, medicines, all kinds of stuff. Even drugs could get started again. So far no drugs are allowed in the city and alcohol is limited by weekly issue but even that will have to change eventually. We are going to go right back down the same exact path we did before.”
“No one said mankind was smart. We are the most destructive thing on this planet. Maybe it’s the way it was meant to be,” Rachel said.
“Damn it. I don’t want the same old crap. I don’t want to have to worry about what is going to happen during the night. We have to change our basic ways. Life is the best it has ever been right now. No one wants for anything now but someone will come along and screw it all up.” They washed the rest of the dishes in silence.
“There is something else I need to tell you,” Randy said after they had finished.
“I’m listening.”
“You may have heard that Colonel Webber is taking a vacation for a few weeks.”
“I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more. So what?”
“Do you know the real reason?”
She looked at him questioningly, “What are you saying?”
“You have heard nothing at the Hospital?”
“Randy, what’s going on?”
“The Colonel is having terrible headaches. Something to do with not enough blood to the brain. From what he has told me, he is in bad shape and unless they can find something to correct the situation he may end up being hospitalized for a long time.”
“Oh dear God. I’m so sorry to hear that. The poor man, he must be in agony.”
“He is a tough old bird but it is starting to take its toll,” Randy told her.
“What does all that mean?” What happens if he gets really sick?”
“He has picked a successor. I don’t agree with his choice but he is adamant.”
“Tell me it isn’t that jerk Colonel Thompson. He is as dumb as a box of rocks and thinks he’s just so attractive. He is a creep. Always trying to brush up against the nurses. We all run when we see him,” Rachel said.
THE BEGINNING Book Two (THE EVENT) Page 23