by C M Hoffmann
Fire Commander motions for the trucks to stop and hangs his head, “Well that was a little too hopeful. What did we do wrong?”
Trey, “Commander, what if we knock down the interior walls?”
“It’s too high risk. The roof could collapse on the crew inside.”
Beau, “We need to take out the load bearing studs inside.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Well the powers off, so there’s no risk of hitting electrical wires, just take a circular saw to the supports, then when we pull the corners it should come down.”
“You sure about that?”
“No, but it’s better than nothing. I’ll do it myself.”
“Alright but pay attention. If it looks like it’s going to come down then get your ass out and we’ll look for another way.”
Beau retrieves a large circular saw from a nearby pickup truck and heads inside of the first house. He takes a breath and removes the guard from the blade. The saw begins its spin and Beau pushes it into the wall. He allows the saw to do most of the work just walking along the inside perimeter of each room. He stops at each window and removes the saw to continue on the opposite side. A few times the saw jumps when it catches a wire, but he presses on. After fifteen or twenty minutes the whole house is cut in half and Beau exits.
Fire Commander, “Well?”
Beau, “Looks like a bad divorce in there, but a simple knock should push it all over.”
Pops points to one of the civilian workers, “Bring that big rig up here with the push bar on the front.” The civilian runs off and jumps into the truck and drives it to the front of the house. “Be listening, if we shout to back off it means something’s wrong.” The civilian nods in response.
Fire Commander, “Get to pushin’, man, we don’t have all day.”
The truck begins to push on the exterior wall making the house groan in protest. Soon the wall begins to bow inward and collapses. However, the other three walls stand firm.
Fitz, “This is never going to get done.”
Coll, “Why don’t we just pull out the whole interior wall? This house will be different because the studs are already cut, but the other ones that are still intact should work.”
Fire Commander, “Fuck! Bring that dozer up here and knock these fucking walls down by any means necessary.” He turns to Coll, “I think I know what you mean, we’ve got enough chain. We’ll try it on the next one.”
After several minutes the dozer pulls up to the houses and crashes through the second and third walls. The roof quickly falls in and the operator lifts the bucket to eye level and begins to push the fourth wall in. He then drives the tracked vehicle over the debris, flattening it to a mound.
Fire Commander, “Forty five minutes, not including all the damn prep, and only one house down. This’ll take forever, if the next one doesn’t go down quick, we’re going to fill it with natural gas and light a match. Just blow the whole damn block up.”
Wyatt, “On the bright side, at least the holes are already punched on the rest and the furniture is already moved, all we need to do now is knock ‘em down.”
Fire Commander sighs, “This is still one hell of a job. Let’s get to the next one.” He shouts to the crew lounging on a couch in the front yard of the next house, “You four! Get off your asses and punch a hole in the interior walls so we can thread the chain through the whole house and hopefully pull this fucker down in one shot.” The crew quickly files in the house and within minutes the sheetrock walls have large holes sporadically placed throughout the house.
Coll, “Give me the chain, I’ve got an idea.” He picks up the chain and throws it through one of the exteriors holes. The chain can be heard clanging around inside the house as it gets slowly tossed through various holes. He tosses the last of the chain out the exterior wall opposite the first, exits and calls the crews inside to observe the web of chains, so in the event it works they know how to set up the next houses. When they all get a general idea they head back out and the chain is quickly hooked to a large military truck.
Fire Commander makes sure the driver is ready and whispers to himself, “Let’s hope this works,” his arms drop and the truck begins to whine under the strain. “Come on, come on.”
The truck lurches forward as the chain begins to snap through the interior walls. With one last pull, the front exterior wall is pulled out onto the lawn launching dirt and dust into the air and the truck careens across the street and hits the front wall of the house on the opposite side of the road. Everyone holds their breath as the first house groans and finally collapses, the other exterior walls falling outward.
A loud chorus of cheers flow up and down the street as the house comes down and the dozer begins to drive up the pitched roof crunching shingles and wood beneath it.
Fire Commander slaps Coll on the back, “And here I thought there was no hope for this little project. Alright everyone who saw how the chain was set up, get to stringin’ it out ready to be pulled down. When your house is done move down to the next one. We should have this block done fairly quick.”
The day wears on and soon block by block the houses are torn down. The day comes to a close with no incidents, steve or otherwise, and a new found hope is felt by everyone as they all unknowingly share a single thought: ‘Maybe we’ll survive this.’
Chief over channel five, “Chief to Two-Six.”
Pops, “Go ‘head.”
“The first vehicles of your area of the wall should be approaching you now, keep an eye out.”
“Will do, we hear ‘em now.”
The vehicles drive down to the end of the street coming to a stop at the furthest point. When the entire line comes to a stop they all stop within three feet of each other. Pops proceeds to the beginning of the line and confronts the second vehicle’s driver.
Pops, “What do you think you’re doing?”
Driver, “Uh, making the wall.”
Pops points to the front bumper, “And what about this?” to emphasize the mistake he walks between the front of vehicle two and the rear of vehicle one. “What about that space?”
Driver, “Good point, but what do I do? You wanna lead me up?”
Pops shakes his head, “Just get out.”
Driver hesitates and exits the vehicle. Pops jumps in the driver’s seat and puts the car in drive, he looks at the driver and presses the accelerator until he hears the crunch of a vehicle crash. He gets out and looks at the now nonexistent space between the vehicles, “That’s how you need to park these things, now go down the line and tell everyone else.” The driver runs down the rest of the line relaying the instructions and soon the whole street is filling with the sounds of laughter and crashing vehicles.
Fire Commander, “Shame you had to explain that to them. Crews! Get to filling in with all that crap from the houses.”
Pops, “Sometimes you gotta tell ‘em the simplest concepts. Can’t build a wall filled with holes.”
Ronson walks over to Pops, “I was thinking about something.”
“Seems to be a lot of that going around. What’s up?”
“We should talk to the chief and get some of the faster vehicles to do scouting ops outside the wall. Even though we’ll have a few blocks notice, I think it’d be worth trying to make contact with other people out there and hopefully have even more of an advanced warning if anything big is coming our way.”
“Not a bad idea. Get him on the radio and see what he says. I’m sure he’ll be good with it, it doesn’t really seem like we’re needed for security anymore. There are so many guns out here already.”
After a few minutes of talking with the chief Ronson returns wearing a broad smile.
Cane, “What’s with the goofy grin?”
Ronson, “You’ll see, our new rides are coming in.” Soon loud engines can be heard and six brand new Ford Mustangs come barreling down the street.
Wyatt, “Now we’re talking, get some muscle in our lives.”
; Cane, “Pops, what’s all this about?”
Ronson, “Well, it was my idea, we’re going to be an advance scouting party for a couple of days, since this is going so well and even faster now. We’re gonna hit the nearby areas, probably not straying too far from the city. Just to see what’s out there. Chief gave us permission, since today went so swimmingly.”
Cane walks up to one of the Mustangs and runs his hand over it in appreciation, “Not as durable as my truck, but I think we’ll get along just fine.”
Chief over channel five, “You there Two-Six?”
Pops, “Yes sir.”
“I imagine your new toys have reached you?”
“Yes sir. Looking forward to putting ‘em to use.”
“Well you’ll have to wait a few days. I want you to get most of the demo done before you go adventuring. You’ll have at least a week of work before you can have fun.”
Two-Six mumbles to themselves and stares longingly at the new cars.
After a few more hours of tearing down houses and creating the wall, the sun begins to fade and the fire commander decides to wrap up for the day. Two-Six says their goodbyes and heads home taking their old and new vehicles with them. The mustangs having the benefits of being all black, they agree tomorrow to paint their now famous symbol on each before heading back to work.
The next week is followed in the same manner. Each new vehicle carries two members of Two-Six, with Fred and Coll now dubbed Guard 1 and 2 to fill the vehicles equally. The work week drags on with the end promise of exploring outside the city. Soon the city gets its three blocks field of view, with two empty blocks outside the wall and one empty inside. They decided initially on four and figured they could add the fourth block later. The wall soon stretches for miles. Some portions filled with new and old cars alike. Each one in a hopefully permanent collision to create the expansive yet short wall. Debris from the houses fills the underneath pockets of the vehicles and, when the vehicles are too low, the debris is simply place on the interior of the wall.
When the work week is over, the chief relays the good news that the following morning Two-Six is cleared for exploration duty. Their new mission not being engagement but reconnaissance and report. Pops makes the announcement and to celebrate they will have another family barbecue at Fitz’s house. The promise of a large filling meal has everyone excited and they each race home to collect what they need and their families. By nightfall all of Two-Six and family are gathered in Fitz’s backyard watching the various pits go to work.
Pops looks around at his ever-expanding family: Trey and Lynn are talking animatedly as Emma sits in Trey’s lap just enjoying the peace; Cane and Scarlett are talking with Wyatt, Marie, and Beau; Gavin and Mallory are tickling Justin as he squirms and giggles; Ronson seems to be having a serious talk with Wade and Abbey, Pops laughs to himself considering the topic of the conversation; Fitz, Raquel, Rapp, and Tina are talking over the barbecue pits; Coll and his family are sitting staring into the fire pit with pleasant smiles on; Fred is sparring with his troops as his wife shakes her head.
Mom, “Whatcha looking at?”
Pops, “Just looking at how our family has seemed to have thrived in this new world. All those people over the years fought over who would be adopted by us and here it is: the end of the world as we know it and NOW we start adopting.”
Mom laughs, “Had to happen sooner or later.”
“Guess you’re right about that.”
As dinner finishes cooking and everyone gathers their plates, Pops calls everyone’s attention. “I thought it would be an appropriate time, seeing how everything seems to be going our way for a change, to break out some good stuff.” He turns to the ice chest behind him and pulls out two fifths of Jack Daniels Tennessee Fire, to a chorus of ‘hell yeas’ and ‘awesome!’
Mom retrieves a bag of paper shot glasses. Pops pours the shots and Mom passes them around.
Cane, “Pops, I think you should make a toast.” Again a chorus of ‘hell yea’ resounds around the fire pit.
Pops, “I think you’re right.” A silence follows and all eyes turn to him, “Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile and who love you, no matter what. The ones who would be willing to take a bullet for you,” he nods at his sons, “and then never let you forget that they saved your ass.” They all chuckle. “We’ve been lucky so far to have each other, though we’ve lost a lot of good people over the past months, our family has grown far beyond what I ever thought it would. We’ve all been at each other’s throats in the past and we’ve had our ups and downs. We’ve spent days avoiding each other for a multitude of reasons but in the end we always come back to one another. As family we stand up for each other and I’m damn proud to be a part of this one. This city is the symbol of our strength. We are the creatures of the night that fight the monsters of the dark. This city is our family and our salvation. We’ve adopted everyone around this fire that isn’t blood and I’m sure the blood can attest that we accept all of you as our own. And for my sons, I’m so proud of you. After everything you’ve all been through you’ve stuck it out and surpassed all my expectations. I’m sure I haven’t told you all enough over the years , but I’m damn proud to have three men like you for sons. And I’m grateful for the additions to our family here, you’ve all made the apocalypse a bit brighter. Hears to the friends and family lost, and hears to the end of the world, may it quake in fear as our boots hit the ground.” He raises his cup and everyone stands and follows suit.
Emma, “Wait! Pops, you forgot something.”
Pops lowers his cup, “What’s that, buckwheat?”
Emma stands up and raises her glass of milk, “And hears to family!”
Pops smiles, “You’re right, little bit, and HEARS TO FAMILY!”
Everyone cheers and throws back their shots. The warmth trailing all the way to their bellies. Mom pours another round for the adults and after the second shot, everyone gets to eating. The rest of the evening is filled with lively conversation and many jokes. Before long, the fire stories come out and soon the family begins to laugh hard enough a few fall out their chairs as stories from before the Turn start to bubble up.
At the end of the meal, they all pitch in to help clean up and then head home with the anticipation of the exploration of the coming days.
THE END OF THE BEGINNING
Two-Six gathers at the intersection of Veterans Boulevard and Williams Boulevard as they have so many times before. Now sporting brand new black Mustangs. The vehicles give them even more uniformity and are sure to hinder the next humans to try and take their homes. With so many threats now in the past and the only perceived threat ahead, steve himself, the world seems a little more at ease. Two armored personnel carriers mark the massive doors, codename: Gateway, of their little slice of paradise. The chief awaits Two-Six near Gateway.
Chief, “Still got Scarlett manning both channels right?”
Cane, “Yessir, she’ll be there to let you know if we get stuck.”
“Good to know. Now again you’re out there to see if you can bring anyone back. We’re going to need even more hands around here if we’re going to feed all these people.”
Trey, “How many people do we have here?”
“I’ve lost count, a few have moved on to live life on the road, more have died just in their homes and many have wandered in from around the metro area, but with the wall almost complete and the threat of steve damn near non-existent inside, I think we’ll be alright out here.”
Rapp, “Hopefully we can keep this up until things get back to normal.”
“Amen to that. You boys be safe out there.”
Pops, “Will do, Chief.”
When the vehicles clear Gateway, the miles fly by as they traverse the outer city limits. Soon an impromptu drag race ensues as the vehicles are quickly passing eighty and ninety miles an hour with many a mid
dle finger hanging out the windows. Before they know it, Two-Six enters the barren expanse of New Orleans. Pops in the lead car locks up his brakes and the other vehicles follow his example.
Cane, “Holy fucking shit. Big, tell me that ain’t what I think it is.”
Wyatt, “Pretty sure it is, let’s talk to Pops.”
When all of Two-Six gathers near the front of the vehicles, Pops quickly shushes them all, “Now listen, obviously this is bad, but we need to see exactly what we’re dealing with. Cane, Wyatt, Trey, and Wade, get to that building,” he points to a nearby five story building. “Find a way to the roof, if it looks bad in there, back out. Stay quiet, the rest of us will stay here to get your asses out of dodge if need be.”
Cane, “Pops, this is bad. What if they come for the city?”
“Stow that shit, and do what I said. You’re going to be Recon for this. That is your call sign right now. Now go.” Pops keys his radio, “Two-Six, Headquarters.”
Scarlett, “Two-Six.”
Pops, “Copy this, Two-Six splitting up on the line of New Orleans, Spartan and Basher will be Recon, all others Support.”
“Direct, Spartan and Basher, now Recon; remaining Two-Six will be Support.”
Cane nods, “Recon, let’s get to work.”
Recon quietly stalks to the edge of the building keeping an eye on what could potentially be the worst possible situation, but trying hard to remain focused on the task at hand. They make it to the rear door and stop to listen. Cane and Trey stack on the door: Cane to turn the knob and Trey wraps his hand on Cane’s vest should he need to be yanked out. Trey decides not to scold his brother for the idea of being on the side of the doorknob instead of the hinges, better to just adapt to the lead than to argue about it. Even a bad plan is better than no plan. Wyatt and Wade cover the door with their AR-15s from a few feet to the side of the brothers.