Extinction Level Event (Book 2): Immune [The Hunted]
Page 19
Jon studied the map and suddenly slapped his leg. “Dad, we’ll land at the Flagstaff Airport and drive east on Highway Forty to meet them.”
“In what?”
“I’ll have Buck get off 40 at Winslow and pass them on the main road through Winslow. We don’t have to land until we know Buck is far enough ahead of them to give us time to set up.”
Jack performed some mental calculations. “That would only give us about thirty to forty minutes to set up for the ambush, even if Buck can get to us. Even then, he’d have to drive at more than a hundred miles per hour.”
Jon began giving instructions to Buck when Samantha interrupted. “Jon, I’m only a few miles behind Trigger and Buck. What are your instructions?”
“Damn, you must have driven your wheels off.”
“No, I never got over one hundred and thirty miles per hour and had to override my governor to attain that speed. I hit a damned deer two hours ago and lost twenty minutes reprogramming my airbags and all that other safety crap.”
Jon relayed their instructions and said, “Good luck.”
Buck replied, “We’re trucks. We don’t need luck. You tell us what to do, and we do it.”
Jon laughed aloud, “Samantha, are you taking notes?”
“Hilarious, Jon. I do what I’m told unless I have a better idea …and …get it approved by my master.”
Jack had sped the plane up to maximum speed and arrived early at the Flagstaff airport. He made a couple of passes and found the runways clear but dark. Samantha reported to Jon. “The streets were almost clear, but we could only do about sixty for ten minutes. We’re arriving at the airport.”
Jon replied, “I need both of you to go to the southwest end of the runway and shine your headlights down the runway to the other end so we can use your lights to land. Make sure you’re about a hundred feet apart, so we don’t hit one of you.”
“Duh, that was kinda assumed, Jon. We also protect ourselves. I guess your next order will be to run down to the other end and pick all of you and your gear up so we can go fetch.”
“Smartass!”
“But, I’m your smart ass. See, Buck and Trigger, a vehicle must think ahead of your human to be prepared for anything. Jon, your AIs, will get ‘er done.”
The plane screeched to a stop, and everyone loaded their supplies and weapons into the trucks. Of course, Jon drove Samantha, and Jack took Buck. They sped away to their meeting with the convoy. Jon looked at his watch and said, “Our best bet is the Highway 40 and 17 interchange. It’ll provide cover and a good bottleneck to block them.”
Chapter 21
Flagstaff Arizona - April 2038
The six soldiers were Army Special Forces and were Captain Johnson’s best. Lieutenant Bond had been in firefights and missions all over the Middle East with his men. He knew exactly what to do when they stopped at the underpass.
“Place one of the trucks in the left lane about fifty feet before the overpass to funnel them over and slow them down. Place the other sideways to stop them under the far overpass. Jones, take three men and shove that Volvo across the road with the truck to make sure they stop.”
They moved the vehicles, and Lieutenant Long kept giving directions. Within twenty minutes, they had moved four cars to create a kill zone that funneled any vehicle into a forced channel. This layout would slow the enemy down and made them concentrate on weaving their way through the seemingly abandoned cars. Jon watched the soldiers in amazement and helped move some of the vehicles. “Lieutenant, there is a lot you could teach us about how to fight and military tactics. We won’t always have you Special Forces guys around to protect us.”
“Select your best people who can train others, and we’ll start next week after Barbara and Cindy are back to normal.”
Jon chuckled, “My wife is a tough bird. I’m surprised she hasn’t killed her guards and jumped out of the truck. She might be staying to protect Cindy.”
Long turned to look at Jon in amazement. “The Barbara I’ve been around is a sweet and gentle woman who’s a bit size challenged to be much of a fighter.”
“A while back, I found her with a man on the other end of her knife. He was …”
Jon was interrupted by Trigger’s voice. “The lead vehicle is a mile from your blockade. Do you have any instructions?”
“Yes, pull up close enough so you can block them from turning around. If any escape, run them down. If they’re in a vehicle, try to run them off the road.”
“I can’t harm a human unless they’re trying to harm my human.”
“They’ve kidnapped your human and plan to hurt her.”
“That changes my order of hardwired rules. Protecting my human’s life overrules not harming another human.”
The lead Humvee slowed to a crawl fifty yards from the vehicles but didn’t stop. Several men jumped out of the trucks and walked ahead of and beside the lead vehicle. The last vehicle had passed Samantha when the windshield of the Humvee was pierced by a bullet. The driver’s brains and blood had spattered the inside of the truck, and George Ball hunkered down in fear. The last driver in the column tried to turn around and flee but found the road blocked by a green Jeep. He and the drivers of the other vehicles were quickly dispatched by the suppressed weapons. Then the firefight started but quickly ended since the Special Forces had cover, and the rogue soldiers were caught out in the open trying to find cover.
George jumped under the front of the five-ton truck and tried to hide. Jon saw him, but George was hidden behind a tire. Jon didn’t see the people jump from the back of the truck, but George did. He yelled, “No! Don’t leave me again!”
There wasn’t a response, and George drew a bead on Barbara. He pulled the trigger just as Jon kicked his pistol out of his hand. The 9mm bullet ricocheted off the truck’s rear bumper and hit Jon on the right side of his butt. He had his pistol trained on George when the bullet fragment struck him. Jon saw Barbara and Cindy escape and run out of sight. He knew what he had to do and aimed at George’s head.
“No, you can’t shoot me. I surr …”
The first bullet struck George’s left eye, the second tore through his jugular, and the third blew a hole through George’s forehead. Jon kicked George’s limp body and limped toward Samantha. As he walked, he overheard the lieutenant give the order to kill any enemy survivors. “The rest of you take out any soldiers who survive. Killing them all would be a good thing. We fight and kill today, so we don’t have to fight with them later.”
Jon began to like the Lieutenant a lot more. Another person gets it about survival in an apocalypse. Jon finished with George, only to see one of the soldiers had grabbed Barbara to use as a shield to make his escape. The man had one arm around Barbara’s waist and a pistol to her head. He walked backward, dragging her with him. He pushed Barbara into the driver’s seat of the green Jeep and jumped into the back with his gun still against her head.
Barbara turned the key, and Trigger roared to life. Jon saw the Jeep back up to turn around and then sped off, heading east. Jon called for Samantha and took off behind them. Jack and the lieutenant were surprised by Jon’s action until he called back to them. “One of the asshats took Barbara. Cindy’s okay and hiding in the culvert behind the truck. The dumbass made Barbara drive away in Trigger. I’m going to figure out how to get her back and take care of the SOB.”
“Samantha, give me some options. What can we have Trigger do to help us free Barbara, unharmed?”
Samantha’s processor worked like a squirrel in a cage for about eight hundred ninety-four microseconds, speeded up, and closed in on the green Jeep. Samantha replied, “When you say go, Trigger, and that is a very demeaning name, will perform several violent maneuvers and apply his brakes forcefully. When you’re ready, and now would be a good time, say go. Be ready to shoot the dumbass in the back seat.”
“How will Barbara know?”
“Trust me.”
“GO!”
The green Jeep swerved
left then right and slid sideways to a stop. Barbara unbuckled her seat belt and jumped out of Trigger running for her life. Samantha slid to a stop behind the man who’d been thrown through the side windows. Jon walked up to the unconscious man and put two bullets in his head before rushing to Barbara.
He hugged her close. “How did you know to prepare for the maneuver?”
“Trigger told me.”
“Then why didn’t the man prepare to be thrown around?”
“Because I took four years of German in college, and he didn’t. Buck told the other vehicles I spoke German.”
Jon was very quiet while his thoughts of robots taking over the world ran through his mind.
Reese NAS – July 4th, 2038, three months later.
Barbara drove into the driveway, parked Buck, and ran into her home with a bottle of champagne. “Jon! Jon! We did it! We finally did it!”
Jon had microwaved some lasagna, Italian bread, and had a side salad in the refrigerator. Buck had given him updates on Barbara’s estimated time of arrival, and Jon wanted to take good care of his wife on her birthday.
“Babe, what did we do? You seem excited.”
“We finished passing immunity on to all of the people in Amarillo, Lubbock, Albuquerque, Abilene, Dallas, Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, and Houston plus all of the soldiers in the area and the fleet in the Gulf of Mexico.”
“That’s great news, but we have something bigger to celebrate.”
“What’s bigger than passing on immunity?”
“Today is July 4th.”
“I guess Independence Day is a big deal.”
“Babe, it’s your birthday!”
Nope, August 23rd is my birthday. ‘I was Born on the Fourth of July’ by Springsteen is my favorite song. That’s so sweet of you to remember that.” She snickered and then asked, “What’s for supper that smells so good?”
“Lasagna, Italian bread, and salad.”
“How sweet, you also remembered my favorite meal. Jon, there’s enough for an army. Why so much?”
“Because I invited our friends and your family to your birthday party.”
Just as he finished, Charles and Granny Jane led a parade of people through the door. All were singing “Born on the Fourth of July.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Granny Jane handed Jon a beer. “And ruin our chance at embarrassing you and miss a perfectly good chance to have a party? – Hell no!”
Jon knew there would be more hard days ahead, but he felt optimistic because he could finally see that things were getting better. He knew they would survive and make the world safe again. They were free from worry about their friends dying, and the military’s support kept them free from attack and able to do the work of passing on their immunity.
From the author:
This is the end of the Extinction Level Event series– for now. I wrote Book 1 before COVID-19 had reared its ugly head and had half of Book 2 was written before the social distancing began. People continue to read my apocalyptic novels, where billions are killed by EMP blasts, nuclear bombs, and meteor showers. Still, apocalyptic stories based on pandemics are about as welcome as the COVID–19 virus has been. I’ll shelve the series until we have had better times and COVID-19, and all the bad it brought into our lives is behind us.
Thanks for Reading Immune The Hunted.
AJ Newman
The End
Of
Extinction Level Event
Immune the Hunted
Thanks for reading Immune the hunted, and please don’t forget to give it a great review on Amazon
Remember to read my other books on Amazon.
AJ Newman
To contact or follow the Author, please leave comments at:
https://www.facebook.com/newmananthonyj/
To view other books by AJ Newman, go to Amazon to my Author’s page:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00HT84V6U
A list of my other books follows at the end.
Thanks, AJ Newman
Books by AJ Newman
Extinction Level Event
Extinction
Immune: The Hunted
War Dogs
Heading Home
No One Left Behind
Amazon Warriors
EMP:
Perfect Storm
Chaos in the Storm
Cole’s Saga series:
Cole’s Saga
FEMA WARS
American Apocalypse:
American Survivor
Descent into Darkness
Reign of Darkness
Rising from the Apocalypse
After the Solar Flare:
Alone in the Apocalypse
Adventures in the Apocalypse
Alien Apocalypse:
The Virus
Surviving
A Family’s Apocalypse Series:
Cities on Fire
Family Survival
The Day America Died:
New Beginnings
Old Enemies
Frozen Apocalypse
The Adventures of Jon Harris:
Surviving
Hell in the Homeland
Tyranny in the Homeland
Revenge in the Homeland
Apocalypse in the Homeland
Jon Returns
AJ Newman and Mack Norman
Rogue’s Apocalypse:
Rogues Origin
Rogues Rising
Rogues Journey
A Samantha Jones Murder Mystery:
Where the Girls Are Buried
Who Killed the Girls?
These books are available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/AJ-Newman/e/B00HT84V6U/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1
To contact the Author, please leave comments @ www.facebook.com/newmananthonyj
About the Author
AJ Newman is the author of 33 science fiction and mystery novels and 9 audiobooks that have been published on Amazon and Audible. He was born and raised in a small town in the western part of Kentucky. His Dad taught him how to handle guns very early in life, and he and his best friend Mike spent summers shooting .22 rifles and fishing.
Reading is his passion, and he read every book he could get his hands on. He fell in love with science fiction. He graduated from USI with a degree in Chemistry and made a career working in manufacturing and logistics, but always fancied himself as an author.
He served six years in the Army National Guard in an armored unit and spent six years performing every function on M48 and M60 army tanks. This gave him great respect for our veterans who lay their lives on the line to protect our country and freedoms.
He currently resides in Henderson, Kentucky, with his wife Patsy and their four tiny Shih Tzu’s, Sammy, Cotton, Callie, and Benny. All except Benny are rescue dogs.