Jack Archer (Book 3): Year Zero

by Taylor, Keith

  “OK,” Krasinski hissed, stepping away from the crate. “OK, I see what you mean. Maybe we should… ummm, OK, we need to get off right now.”

  “Get off how?”

  “I need to get off!” Without warning Krasinski made for the back of the truck, and it was only a moment of quick thinking from Ramos that he tripped over a stuck out foot before he leaped to his death. He tumbled to the floor of the truck, inches from the tailgate.

  “OK, big guy.” Ramos lowered himself beside Krasinski and held him steady as he tried to scramble away. “Let’s see if we can come up with a plan that doesn’t leave us all with broken necks.”

  “But this could go off any second now!” he protested, squirming under Ramos’ grip. “We have to get away from it!”

  “Ted!” Karen hissed. “Calm down. We’re in the middle of nowhere. They’re not going to set off a nuke just to destroy a couple of wheat fields and some telephone poles, OK? Just settle down. We have to think about this.”

  Valerie stared out the back of the truck with glazed eyes, seemingly hypnotized by the telephone poles whipping by at the side of the road. “I… I think we’re slowing down.” She tensed up, her muscles bunching. “He’s right. We should get out.”

  Karen couldn’t react quickly enough. By the time she knew what was happening Valerie was already out of reach, running at full tilt for the back of the truck. She turned to see Ramos still focused on Ted. He didn’t see Valerie until she was almost past him.

  “No!”

  It happened almost too quickly to follow. Ramos reached out with his free hand to grab at Valerie’s wrist, but she was moving too quickly, carrying too much momentum. She’d already launched herself towards the tailgate by the time she barreled into him, and in a split second Ramos realized he only had two options. The first was to let her go. To hope that the truck had slowed enough, and that the ground was forgiving.

  He chose the second option.

  With a deft flip he used Valerie’s momentum against her. He didn’t hold her back, but instead swung her like a pendulum back into the truck. For a moment her body was beyond the tailgate, hanging over thin air, held steady only by Ramos’ tight grip on her arm, and then her feet touched down once more on the very the lip of the truck.

  For a split second time and gravity seemed to hold their breath. It seemed as if they might be allowed to stay there, held in precarious balance on the edge, but the illusion only lasted for a moment. The force spent swinging Valerie back to the edge had to be balanced, and Ramos found himself hovering over the road, his weight beyond the truck. He was falling.

  But he didn’t fall alone. As Ramos released Valerie from his grip she reached out and took his hand once more. She knew she couldn’t save him, but she couldn’t let him go.

  All of this happened in the blink of an eye, in the space between breaths, but by the end of it Ramos and Valerie were tumbling on the road behind the truck, rolling over and over in a cloud of dust, clutching tightly to each other as the truck peeled away.

  “Mommy!” Emily cried from the deep shadows of the truck as Karen stepped towards the back. Karen took her by the hand and continued walking, staring wide eyed at the two figures receding into the distance. They’d come to a stop in the middle of the road, two ragged heaps on the cracked, potholed asphalt.

  “Ted, can you see if they’re…? Karen’s voice trailed off. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

  Krasinski shook his head. “I can’t tell. My glasses broke in the helicopter.”

  Karen squinted, hoping that her vision might magically sharpen, but the distant figures had grown too small. As far as she could tell they were—

  “They’re moving!” Emily hopped on her feet and pointed excitedly out the back of the truck.

  “Are you sure, pumpkin?” Ramos and Valerie were just hazy blobs to her eyes.

  “Yeah! Doctor Ramos is waving to us!” She waved back, a grin spreading across her face. “Are we going to jump with them, mommy?”

  “No!” Karen pulled Emily a little closer, as if she was worried she’d leap without thinking if her mom didn’t hold her back. “It’s not safe, honey. Doctor Ramos and Valerie were just very, very lucky.” She looked down at Krasinski, still prone on the floor of the truck. “Ted? You’re not still planning to jump, are you?”

  Krasinski shook his head decisively. “That would be a big no,” he replied. “If they got away from that without any broken bones it’d be a miracle.”

  “Agreed. We’ll wait until we're moving more slowly.” She looked out at the telephone poles that ran beside the road. “Though… is it just me, or are we slowing down now?” She planted her hands on Emily’s shoulders and looked her in the eye. “Pumpkin, just wait here a second. Don’t go anywhere near the back, OK?”

  Emily nodded. “I won’t, mommy. I don’t want to jump out.”

  Karen made her way to the tailgate, stepping over Krasinski as she went, and when she reached the edge she grabbed hold of the truck’s frame and leaned around the side.

  “Ted, you said this airfield was abandoned, right?”

  “Yeah,” Krasinski confirmed. “They haven’t used it in at least five years. Not since they built the new longer strips in the west of the base.”

  “Well,” Karen said, pulling herself back inside, “it’s not abandoned today. There’s a plane waiting on the runway.”

  “Damn it. How far away are we?”

  “Maybe half a mile,” Karen guessed. “Why?”

  “Because we need to get out of here before anyone comes back and finds us hanging out next to their favorite nuke. I’m guessing they wouldn’t have any moral qualms about shoo—” He froze in mid-sentence, remembering that Emily was standing three feet from him. “Anyway, we don’t want to be anywhere near here when someone comes to check on the cargo.”

  “OK, so we jump when the truck slows down.” She leaned around the side once more. “I can see a couple of buildings out there. Maybe… ummm… a hundred yards or so from the plane? You think we could jump out as we pass the buildings?”

  Krasinski pulled himself to his feet, joining Karen at the edge of the truck. He ducked beneath her and leaned around the side. “No,” he shook his head and pointed straight ahead. “We won’t pass the buildings on the way in. The road enters the airfield a few hundreds yards to the east. See that one right there?” He pointed at a tall, narrow gray concrete building. “That’s the control tower. The big white block beside it is the hangar. I haven’t been here in years, but if I remember correctly the parking lot is to the south of the hangar. They’ll need to unload the nuke, so as soon as we’re moving slowly enough we can hop out and make a run for it. We'll head straight for the hangar.”

  Karen pulled back from the edge and turned to Emily, kneeling down before her. “OK, pumpkin, listen. In a minute we’re going to jump down onto the road, OK?”

  “No!” Emily’s lower lip began to wobble. “I’m too scared, mommy!”

  “It’s OK, honey. It’s not going to be like Doctor Ramos and Valerie, OK? We’ll be moving real slow when we jump, and I’ll be holding you. It’ll be just like jumping off the slide into the ball pit at Imagination Playhouse. Remember how you were scared to jump in when you were little, pumpkin?”

  Emily nodded, wiping a tear from her cheek.

  “But then remember that day you decided to be extra, extra brave and you jumped on that slide and went all the way down to the ball pit? Do you remember what you told me later? You said you were just scared of being scared, didn’t you, pumpkin?”

  Emily nodded again. “Uh huh. But mommy—”

  “So I need you to be just as brave as you were back then, just this one time. Can you be extra brave for mommy?”

  Emily looked down at the painted white lines whipping out behind the truck. Karen could see her reaching down within herself for ever shred of courage she could muster. “You promise it won’t hurt?”

  “I promise, pumpkin. Cross my
heart and hope to die. I’ll be holding onto you every second, OK?”

  Emily sniffed and clung tight to Karen’s shirt. “OK.”

  “Daddy will be so proud when he sees what a brave little girl you’ve been,” she said, lifting her up beneath her arms and pulling her into a hug. “Ted? Are we close?”

  Krasinski leaned back around the side, nodding. “Yeah, just a minute or so now.” The truck passed a high chain link fence that stretched out into the distance, and the rumble of the tires changed as they moved from asphalt to concrete. “Get ready to jump.”

  He leaned back inside, gripping hold of the steel frame of the truck as he prepared for the leap. “Just a little slower. Wait until we’re at walking pace. We should see the tower any sec—”

  The truck suddenly veered to the left, and Karen stumbled sideways into Krasinski. “Whoa, you OK?” he asked, holding her arm until she found her feet.

  “Yeah, but where are we going? I thought you said the parking lot was near the hangar.”

  “It is. Look.” He pointed out the back as the long white building came into view. In front of it were the white lines of a parking lot. “I don’t know where we’re…” He paused, listening to a sudden mechanical hum. “Oh. Oh, no.”

  “What?” Karen demanded. “What is it?”

  Before Krasinski could answer Karen saw the problem. A shadow was cast over the truck, and with a sudden jolt it began to climb a steep incline. “What’s going on?”

  Beneath the tailgate the concrete vanished, replaced by the steel of a ramp, and a moment later walls appeared on either side of them.

  “They're driving straight onto the plane,” hissed Krasinski. “We need to get out right now.”

  Without another word he hopped down to the ramp, but before he’d taken more than a couple of steps it began to rise from the ground with a loud mechanical whine. By the time he reached the edge it was already six feet above the concrete and still rising, and in the back of the truck Karen stood frozen, Emily in her arms. She knew she could never make it. Even as she considered jumping down the gap at the back of the plane closed to just a few feet, and then inches, and then the last narrow line of sunlight was erased with a loud thud.

  The cargo bay was plunged into darkness, and the grumbling engine of the truck died away. For a moment Karen stood in an eerie silence, too afraid to breathe, holding Emily tight against her shoulder to keep her from making a sound, and then the cargo bay filled with a cold blue light. Buzzing strip lights flickered on along the walls, and somewhere off in the distance came the whir of engines.

  “Ted,” she whispered, so quiet she barely mouthed the words. “Get back inside!”

  Krasinski froze like a deer in headlights at the sound of a door swinging open somewhere in the direction of the cockpit.

  “Get us in the air, Cal.” The voice echoed in the cavernous space, quickly replaced by the hiss of static from a two way radio. Another door opened with a creak, and still Krasinski stood at the back of the plane, completely exposed, visible to anyone who might glance in his direction. Karen beckoned him towards her with an urgent wave of her hand, but he seemed too afraid to move.

  “Make sure she’s strapped down tight, sergeant.” That was the first voice, deep and booming, followed by a meek “Yes, sir.”

  Karen could hear movement alongside the truck. She turned her head to the left, and against the ghostly blue glow she could see a hand running along the other side of the truck’s canvas covering. They were only a few seconds from emerging at the back, and when they appeared there’d be nowhere to hide. There was no way Krasinski could make it back to the truck in time now.

  Karen swallowed the lump in her throat, feeling her heart pound in her chest. Ten feet. Five.

  The hand stopped, bowing in the canvas, and then vanished.

  “Umm, general?”

  The booming voice returned, more distant now, somewhere toward the cockpit. “Yes, sergeant?”

  “I just… I just want to thank you for the opportunity, sir. It’s been an honor to serve with you.”

  Approaching footsteps echoed through the cargo bay, stopping somewhere near the cab of the truck. “Sergeant, the honor has been all mine. Sincerely.” They were so close Karen could hear the rustle of their clothing as the men shook hands. “I couldn’t have asked to serve with a more dedicated group of patriots, son. Your nation owes you a debt of gratitude.”

  At the back of the plane Krasinski finally found the courage to move. Walking on tiptoes he covered the ten yards back to the truck while the men spoke, and the deep, booming voice of what Karen guessed was an officer covered the sound of Ted’s climb up to the truck. She nodded towards the dark shadows behind the crates, and with painfully slow progress they made their way to a spot that couldn’t be seen from the tailgate.

  Now the footsteps once again receded, and the sergeant broke into a cheerful whistle as he made his way alongside the truck. Karen sat in an awkward crouch, Emily balanced in her lap, as the man fussed over ratchet straps and kicked wooden chocks beneath the tires.

  The plane began to move. Karen could feel the vibration beneath her feet, and then a slight jolt that sent her hand shooting out to find her balance on the floor.

  “What do we do?” she desperately mouthed, staring wide eyed at Krasinski.

  He didn’t respond. Just a few steps away the sergeant was still ratcheting the final strap, securing the truck to the floor of the plane, his shrill whistle reaching them over the rising whine of the engines.

  Karen looked to the floor, and a glint caught her eye. It was the pry bar Ramos had used to jimmy open the crates of medical supplies. An arm’s length of solid steel with a wickedly sharp forked slat on the end. Even in the hands of an amateur fighter it could do some serious damage. If she could get the drop on the sergeant maybe she could—

  Krasinski grabbed her arm as she reached out for it, shaking his head.

  Now, finally, the sergeant was finished with his work, and Karen held herself in her painful crouch as the sound of his whistling receded towards the front of the plane. She started to move, but once again Krasinski stayed her, holding up a hand and listening intently. Finally, after an agonizingly tense minute, Karen heard the thud of a heavy door.

  “He’s gone,” Krasinski sighed, letting out the breath he'd been holding.

  Karen reached out and snatched the pry bar from the ground. “Why the hell did you stop me? We could have escaped!”

  “No,” Krasinski shook his head and pointed towards the back of the plane. “No, we couldn’t. The cargo bay door won’t open while the plane’s moving on the ground. The only way to get it open is to stop the plane, and from what I can tell there are at least three people on board. Probably more. The Hercules takes a standard crew of five, and these are trained soldiers. There’s no way we’re beating our way past them with a metal stick.”

  Karen angrily dropped the pry bar, setting Emily down as she stretched out her aching legs. “Are you OK, honey?”

  “What’s happening, mommy? I thought we were gonna jump out.”

  “Yeah.” Karen scanned around for some kind of solution, as if a magical escape hatch might appear in the floor. “Change of plan, pumpkin. I think we might be going for a ride.”

  Emily looked downcast. “But I thought we were going to see daddy. You promised. You promised before the helicopter.” Her eyes welled with tears and her face flushed pink. “I…” she gasped, the tears beginning to flow. “I want to see my daddy!”

  Karen grabbed her tight, pulling her in for a hug as she felt her own lip tremble. She couldn’t stand to see Emily this way. “I know, pumpkin. I want to see him too. I’m so sorry.”

  Emily pulled away, leaving a trail of snot and tears on Karen’s shoulder, and she wiped her eyes. “Can…” she sniffed, “can we call him on the phone? Can he come and pick us up?”

  Karen’s eyes grew wide. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it. “Ted! You still have your phon
e, right? You can call the base! Tell them to stop the plane from taking off!”

  “I have it, yeah,” he said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out his cell. “But I don’t know the phone number.”

  “How can you not know the number? Don’t you work there?”

  “No, I work at Travis AFB, and I don’t know that number, either. Nobody calls the damned switchboard.”

  “So who can you call? Don’t you have anything programmed in? You don’t have any officer friends at Beale or… I don’t know, anyone who could get a message up to someone in charge?”

  Krasinski shook his head. “I have Domino's Pizza on speed dial, and the number of a private who once tried to sell me weed.” He sighed, frustrated. “I’m an accountant. I’m a nobody on the base. I don’t hang out with officers.”

  Karen pulled her own phone from her pocket, but she didn’t even have to tap the screen before she knew it would be no good. The screen was shattered, and it didn’t respond at all when she tried to wake it.

  “Let me borrow yours,” she said, snatching Krasinski’s cell from his hand.

  “Who are you gonna call?”

  “I’m calling Jack.” She fell silent for a moment, struggling to remember the number she’d long since ceded to her phone’s memory rather than her own. “He was on his way to the safe zone before the bomb. Maybe he can get a message to someone.”

  “You’re calling daddy?” Emily’s face brightened, and the first hint of a smile began to creep to her lips.

  “Yeah, pumpkin, I’m calling daddy. I’ll let you say hello if… hang on.”

  She held the phone closer to her ear, struggling to hear the recorded message over a sudden roar as the plane’s engines spooled up.

  Sorry, this number is no longer in service.

  “What the hell?” She looked down at the phone, reading the number and silently mouthing along. “Three seven four… crap, wrong number.” She dialed again, praying she’d remembered it right, and as she held the phone tight against her ear she felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of ringing.