The sun is rising. Jack could really use a break now. Just like the others, he hasn’t slept all night. He could probably wake Pam up so she would drive and he could rest. But the idea of disturbing her bothers him. He will keep on driving for as long as he has to. He thinks that if he feels tired, then maybe Henry and John do as well. They are probably going to stop soon.
Jack is not even done contemplating the idea of taking a break that he notices someone at a distance waving their arms. As he drives closer, he recognizes Henry who points towards a trail on the side. Jack stops the car and Henry tells him he has just arrived and John is proposing they follow the path to see where it goes. They might be able to find a place to rest.
Henry gets back in his car and engages in the trail, closely followed by Jack and his family. After a few minutes driving in a very bad terrain, they find John and his truck parked in the shadow under some trees, close to a hill. The sun is still low on the horizon, but the group can already feel it is going to be a hot day.
Pam and the kids are awake now. John and Jack are gathering water and food supplies. And to everyone’s surprise, Henry decides to gather some dry wood and to start a fire. Pam thanks him but tells him that while his initiative is laudable, they will probably not need a fire. They are not going to cook anything and just settle for a handful of dry fruits. The temperature is also rising rapidly, so the need for a fire is limited. Not to mention the potential risk of starting a blaze or, more dangerously, reveal their location.
Henry agrees with Pam, who thanks him one more time for his initiative.
After eating a little bit, John and Jack propose to stay here until dusk. They will sleep in the cars for a few hours to recover and then they’ll continue their trip at night. Henry is already sleeping, straight on the sand. He is exhausted. Nevertheless, the group wakes him up and carries him to his car. It will be safer for him as he will not burn on the sand or be attacked by desert creatures. Henry mumbles a few words that no one understands and falls back asleep in the relative comfort of his car.
As the men are asleep, Pam and the kids pass the time talking about the future and also about their past life.
They reminisce funny stories.
After a minute spent laughing, they realize that these anecdotes are a thing of the past. The future will indeed certainly bring them fewer opportunities to laugh again.
But Pam always tries to see the positive aspect in every situation. This is something she wants her kids to try and see as well. She tells them that even today, no matter how desperate things appear to be, there is always something that can bring a smile. She tells the kids that in the future, when they look back at today’s situation, they will remember Henry and how difficult it was to wake him up and carry him to his car. And they will laugh about it. She adds that sometimes they can’t immediately see the positive or the fun in a situation, but it is always there.
As a mother, Pam wants the best for her kids. She wants to protect them. This is what she is trying to do right now. To make them feel normal, to make them forget as much as possible about the situation they are in. But deep inside she knows she cannot hide the reality. She knows her kids are pretending everything is fine only to please her or at least to not make her worry about them more than she already does.
Pam is so angry at GAIA. Angry that her kids are not going to have a normal life. They will never be able to experience what their mother had when she was their age. They will never go to prom. And it is very unlikely they will ever have a boyfriend or a girlfriend. They are just stuck here with their parents in the middle of nowhere because of GAIA.
Having such thoughts is enough to bring Pam on her feet and to give her back the strength she has been lacking for the past day. She is now more motivated to continue the fight so her kids have a chance to live a decent life.
As she stands up and starts gathering things around, John and Jack wake up. Henry is still sleeping in his car.
“Hey guys,” Pam says. “Did you sleep enough?” she asks.
“I think so,” Jack says.
“Same here,” John adds.
“What’s the plan? How far are we from the base?” Pam asks.
“We are more than halfway there,” John answers. “If everything goes well we should be there late tonight or tomorrow morning. Does anyone want to come with me on top of the hill? We will have a better view of the route from up there,” John asks.
“I’m in,” Pam replies. “Kids, stay here with your father and Henry.”
John and Pam climb the small hill in just a few minutes. It is not very high but the view from the top gives them a sense of domination. They both feel very good about that. For a second, they don’t consider themselves as weak or even as victims. They are on top of their little world. They feel like they are in control of everything around them.
The visibility is very clear and allows them to see easily dozens of miles in every direction.
Armed with the map and pointing at the horizon, John shows Pam where they are coming from and where they are going.
Pulling his binoculars from around his neck, he brings them to his eyes and spends a few seconds scrutinizing in the direction of their destination.
As he seems to have found what he is looking for, he hands the binoculars to Pam.
He asks her to look for the highest mountain. Pam can barely distinguish it because of the distance and the haze near the mountain chain.
John tells her this is where the base is supposed to be. This is where they are going. Pam nods and uses the binoculars to try and locate the road from their destination to here, their point of origin. She doesn’t see much except that it shouldn’t be too difficult as the terrain looks fine from where she stands. She also takes the opportunity to examine their surroundings to ensure they are alone and that nothing represents a threat to the group.
This is when she notices a small cloud of dust in the direction they came from this morning. It seems to be vehicles. Pam is unable to tell whether they are hostile or not. If they are sent by GAIA, it probably means they are on to the group. But John doesn’t believe GAIA is behind that. In his mind, a more appropriate, logical, and efficient response from GAIA would be airborne. Pam agrees.
So what is that? Another group of resistant just like them or something else? If so, what else? Who in their right mind would venture here knowing they can be captured by the robots or even worse?
If they are resistant, they can probably join the group. But if they are not, what do they have in mind?
And after a few seconds, John eventually pronounces the word Pam didn’t want to hear.
“Mercenaries! It can only be mercenaries” John says.
After they killed their employers and stole their assets, some groups of mercenaries started to roam the country in search of additional riches. They are now nothing more than a bunch of violent thieves, with no respect for anything, especially for life.
They have quickly understood that GAIA would not do anything against them. At least for now, as they are serving one of GAIA’s purposes.
Indeed, they hunt down anyone who has managed to escape from GAIA. And if GAIA happens to try and stop them, they have enough fire power to inflict great damage to its troops.
The world has become a giant playground for them. A bloody playground. When they cross someone’s path, they usually don’t ask any question. They just kill the person and then loot whatever was in their possession.
Wild and crazy animals, that’s what they are.
No better than robots.
Enemies of humanity.
Scum.
They are on the main road and Pam can now count two vehicles. They are going in the same direction as the group wants to take. The good news is that if they stay on the road they will probably pass the group without noticing it and continue their journey. But it also means that the group will be preceded by the mercenaries and more likely to meet them.
John asks Pam if she wants to
continue with such a threat hanging over them. She clearly doesn’t. But she adds that they don’t stand a chance in case of a frontal attack. These mercenaries are trained killers while they are just a family accompanied by a former philosophy teacher and the owner of a village store. Not exactly a challenge for mercenaries. If their little group decided to go after them it would be like signing their own death certificate.
John agrees.
Perhaps a frontal attack is not the best solution in such a situation and with such an adversary. But what about a flank attack? Why not try to outsmart these people?
Pam disagrees firmly.
These guys are probably well versed in military strategy. They have probably been confronted with similar situations during former conflicts, and therefore will be difficult to outsmart. And if something happened to the adults, who would take care of the kids? Pam definitely refuses to take part in what she considers a suicide attack.
Jack arrives at that very moment.
Henry is up and he is looking after the kids, thus allowing Jack to grab the opportunity to join Pam and John.
After they explain the situation, Jack takes Pam’s side. But at the same time, he does not feel comfortable leaving the mercenaries in front of them and having to worry not only about the robots but also about these killers.
What if the mercenaries stopped and the group came across them? There would be a fight, for sure.
If the group is to do something, they need to decide fast.
John estimates that the vehicles are less than twenty miles from where they are. They don’t seem to go very fast, so it will probably take them around thirty minutes to reach the group’s current position. That does not leave much time to plan something especially when the group needs at least five minutes to drive back to the main road.
“I understand your concern about the kids, Pam,” John says, “but I’m going. I have enough fire power under my belt to get rid of them.”
“Are you crazy?” Pam asks. “These guys will put you down in a second.”
“You know I don’t have anything to lose. And if I can help you get to the base safely, then I’ll know I’ll have achieved my goal,” John replies.
“How do you plan on doing that if you die when you are the only one who knows the location of the base?” Pam asks.
“Well, I’ve shown Jack where we need to go on the map, and you’ve seen the mountain a few minutes ago. You both know where to go,” John says. “Don’t worry, I’m pretty sure I can pull this off,” he adds.
“Do you need help?” Jack asks.
“Jack, you are staying here!” Pam protests.
“Well, I could certainly use an extra gun,” John answers.
“You heard him, Pam. I can help. I know how to shoot. Don’t worry, everything will be fine,” Jack says.
“You must both have gone crazy. There is no way I will let you go. You are staying here. And that applies to you as well, John,” Pam says.
“Sorry, honey. I’m going. They represent too great of a threat. They need to be dealt with,” Jack says.
Surprised by Jack’s sudden confidence and tone, Pam doesn’t know what to say anymore. She knows Jack is doing this to protect his family and from what she sees, she also understands that nothing she is going to say will make him change his opinion.
“Ok … Just go. But you better come back for our children and me,” Pam concedes.
“I will,” says Jack, while giving a kiss on Pam’s forehead, as if to tell her it is not a goodbye and that he will be back soon to give her a real kiss. “Tell me what I need to do,” Jack says to John.
“Follow me,” John replies.
As the group goes down the hill back to the cars, John exposes his plan to Jack. They speak very quietly so Pam cannot hear them. The only words she manages to grasp are, “… no mercy, we kill everyone.”
John gets to the back of his truck and unloads a few boxes. He opens the one that said ‘Danger – Explosives’ when they first saw it in his store. He pulls something out. Something long and apparently heavy.
“What is that thing?” Pam’s son asks.
“SMAW,” John answers.
“Sorry, what?” the group asks in concert.
“Shoulder-launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon. SMAW,” John says. “But that’s not what we are going to use. It is way too destructive for just two cars. Very efficient against a bunker, though. Instead, we’ll use this,” he adds while extracting a more classic RPG from the box.
He hands one to Jack while he puts the second one on his shoulder. John then gives Jack a gun that he quickly checks, loads, and puts in his pants, behind his back. And finally, John hands out an assault rifle.
“HK416, refurbished. From Germany. You know, the country of good quality stuff,” John says with a smirk. “Think you can handle it?” he asks.
“I’m fine with the gun and the assault rifle. But I’m not familiar with the RPG, though,” Jack admits.
“It’s easy. You put it on your shoulder like this, you aim, you pull the trigger and ‘boom’. Better not miss, you only have one grenade. Any question?” John asks.
“No, I’m good. Let’s go before it’s too late,” Jack concludes.
Jack and John get in the truck. They barely have enough time to get back to the road and set up their trap before the other cars are onto them.
Pam runs back to the top of the hill to watch the attack. She is followed by Henry and the kids.
From the top, she can clearly see the cars at a distance. She doesn’t need the binoculars but she wants to take a closer look at the cars.
What she sees horrifies her and reminds her of a movie she watched when she was younger; Mad Max.
There seems to be a human body or what is left of it attached on the first vehicle’s hood.
Pam’s son wants to look as well but she refuses vigorously. If the kids saw that, they would have nightmares for the rest of their lives. The cars make erratic movements on the road. They must be completely crazy or under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Pam thinks.
She points the binoculars to the mercenaries’ opposite direction and finds John’s truck stopped in the middle of the road. She doesn’t see anyone inside or outside.
Approximately two miles or less are now separating the mercenaries and her husband.
The contact is going to happen in two minutes.
And in three minutes, Pam may very well become a widow.
She already regrets she let Jack go with John. If they do not succeed, and after what she saw on the hood of the car, she knows they will be tortured by the gang before they are killed.
But there’s nothing she can do now. There’s no turning back. A motion has been set that nothing can stop. If something bad happens, the best alternative for the rest of the group will be to hide for as long as they need, and if necessary defend themselves with the weapons John left them.
The cars are now getting close to the truck. They can see it as they seem to slow down before they eventually mark a clear stop.
They stay there for a minute, which seems to last an eternity to Pam. They must be observing the situation.
All doors open almost at once. Heavily armed men get out of the cars. Pam counts twelve men plus the two drivers who stayed behind the wheel.
The group from the car behind spreads in the direction opposite to the truck. They are clearly protecting the back of the small convoy. The other group moves forward to the truck.
Without noticing where it comes from, Pam suddenly hears a big explosion. She takes the binoculars off of her eyes to see the big picture.
The first car has just blown up and she can hear men shouting and shooting in all directions. The group in the back turns around and makes its way towards the first team. The men are no longer covering their rear.
Fatal mistake.
As the group hides behind the second car for cover, it also blows up. The men are killed instantly by the blast.
F
rom the distance, Pam can see two human shapes suddenly jumping from each side of the road. One close to John’s truck, and the other far before the truck and behind the second car that has just exploded.
“It’s Jack and John,” she thinks.
They are armed with their assault rifles and are literally spraying the stunned survivors with deadly efficiency.
But one of the two shapes seems to fall on the ground. Pam looks through the binoculars. It’s John. He is not dead and is now defending himself with his gun. Jack runs towards him and finishes whoever is still standing.
And as quickly as the fight started, it ends.
A deadly silence fills the air. No more gunshots, no more explosions. Everything is suddenly very calm, back to normal.
“Let’s go back to the cars and help them,” Pam says to Henry and the kids.
“Are you ok?!” Pam screams as soon as they arrive at the scene. Jack nods and waves his hand. “Get me a bandage for John,” he says. “He’s bleeding a lot.”
John is laying on side of the road.
There is a puddle of blood starting to form next to his body. He is still conscious but seems to be suffering a lot.
Pam gets a first aid kit from the glove compartment and runs towards him.
“Give me a hand, Kelly. Quick!” she says to her daughter.
But Kelly is paralyzed. She is standing in the middle of the dead bodies, some of them still burning from the explosions.
“Kelly! Now!” Pam shouts.
Henry puts his arm around Kelly’s shoulders and takes her to Pam. He keeps telling her to not look around, that everything is fine, that her father is not injured, and that her mother needs her help.
As soon as Kelly meets her mother’s eyes, she feels normal again. And by normal, she actually feels safe. She takes a quick look around searching for her father and he too seems fine. She is relieved and can now follow her mother’s instructions.
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