Black Box 86ed (25 page)

“You have one minute to exit the building with your hands in the air and stars on your chest. Live ammunition has been authorized. You are completely surrounded. Exit immediately and no one will be hurt.” The Voice from the helicopter barrels down.

Landen
, escorted by two men, take their place in the corner at the end of the line. I guess he’ll be the last to leave.

CHAPTER…

One Hand on Graces shoulder, the other on the trigger I stare at the ground. Fifth and sixth, we’ll be the fifth and sixth people to leave. They will take out the first, maybe the second so after the third it’s probably pretty safe, I tell myself. I watch as sweat runs down my nose holding on to the tip for dear life. A tiny panorama of the room caught in its reflection. I stair as is slowly swings back and forth from the shaking of my head. Finally it drops onto the dust covered wood floor.

      
“Louie, what’s going on?” Billy yells.

He shrugs, “they ain’t followin a word I’m sayin.”

“Figure it out!” Billy Snarls back, “Jesus we ain’t got the time, everyone pick a man when we hit that tank, move your ass double time.
Louie, Get them moving now!”

Taking the arm of the least messed up guy, he leads him to the back door. “They’re right on the other side, you gotta kill em all or you’re dead.” Louie says handing him a pistol.

The man’s face distraught, looking to each person in line for reassurance and getting none, he takes the gun.

Louie spins and at the top of his voice screams. “You dumb cunts best catch me or Imma fuck your mamas asshole!” Punching one of the men in the face. He dodges the man swinging back,
and sprints to the naked man in the corner, an almost thunderous clasp of an ass slap cuts
the room, the man immediately chasing after him as the other two do the same.

“WWWHHHOOOOOWWWEEEEEEE,” he screams, sprinting though the front door, the drugged men racing after him. The initial snaps of his pistol almost immediately over taken by the barrage of assault rifles from outside.

“Now, now
!” Billy screams into his walkie talkie, the fear in his voice shockingly clear. Watchtower lets the RGP fly, my stomach simultaneously drops. The first wave take one step out, the man closest to me instantly falling back, more of him on the wall now than actually in him. The piercing squeal of bullets flying in, out, and all around filling the air, as nearly every glass window shatters letting the lilac and sunflower laced wind blow into the house. We follow Billy as he steps over the dead man frantically firing in all directions.

Stitches
pulling with each strike I leap over the now human door matt. Looking to the drugged man, racing straight through the backyard, not firing a single shot. He just runs, waving his gun high in
the air, screaming his head off. With sprays of blood from his neck as he takes
bullet after bullet.

I look to my left, the gun following my gaze I quickly put one man down, and look back to Billy.

“Right there,” he yells looking to the end of the yard, and in an instant his head and much of his possessions in it wash over me. His body quivering as he crumples to the ground. No time to think I pull Grace as she stutter steps over his body and we run towards the line of trees at the end of the yard. We are feet form them when a second explosion happens above us, the heavy machines in the helicopter above struggle to keep air as it spins out of control.

Making it to the line of trees continuous gunfire behind us. We jump down into
the bushes with one man
right behind us.

“Come on get your ass over here!” he yells to the other men. The back yard completely clear of military, about a dozen and a half bodies strewn about the yard. The men about fifteen of them run into the cover of the trees.
Landen
being the last of them crouching next to us. We can still hear gunfire from the other side of the house.

“Jesus they are really giving them hell over there!” Roger yells to me.

“What are we doing we need to move and help them out, we could still save them” One guy yells.

“We cannot risk it we have already lost to many men and we have a direct route to get the VP out of here. Sir would you please follow me” Another man interjects.

Landen obviously shaken stands with about four other guys and takes off through the cul-de-sac.

“What about these two?” One guy asks pointing to us. “These pet projects lost their owner, I say we either enlist them or cut them loose right now”.

“You guys can’t just leave us, we’ll die,” Grace begs.

“We can’t have baggage that’s not holding their own neither.”

“I’ll go,” I interject.

“What?”

“I’ll go help, just give me a real gun.”

“What no Will you can’t you’ll die,” Grace cries. “W
e are already so lucky to be alive why would you push that?”

“If we can’t go with them we are dead or worst. We have just been buying time ever since the station we need them.” An older guy stands handing me an assault rifle, and a clip of ammunition. “Here you go kid.”

“Isn’t anyone coming with me?” I ask almost begging.

Two guys stand up “We’ll go while you guys get the pres outta here,” one guys tells the group. “We’ll check that spot out
and meet up at the Rendezvous point a little after dust.
”
      

“Go with them I’ll meet up with you?”
I tell Grace.

“Please don’t go, if you die I won’
t have anyone left.
Please don’t leave me.”

“It’s going to be all right, I’ll see you in an a few hours stay safe.”
      

“Why do you keep saying that? You know it’s not going to be all right. Nothing is all right please stay with me.”

“I’m going that’s, that I don’t have time to argue.” I lean down kissing her on the cheek; “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

Roger standing, “Jesus Christ I’ll keep him safe,” he says.

“Well let’s fucking go!” One of the men yells.

“One guys goes back into the house to give cover while we split up and go around the sides of the house, an older man says blankly. The house is still standing so Watchtower must have gotten that tank, so it’s just gona be foot soldiers
.”

We take off; I jump over the bushes back into the yard. The early morning sun cascading over me, casting long shadows, as I try to find the best size stride to not tear any stitches.

“I got the house,” Roger yells behind me as I start towards the right side of the building. There is still gunfire but it’s becoming more and more intermittent.

Passing Billy’s motionless body, I try to not look at what’s left of his head. Reaching the corner of the house I see the wrangled remains of the tank. Not too shabby Watchtower, I think to myself. I look out across the street to two men in military uniforms retreating down the block. Turning to the left I see Louie about thirty feet away. He’s just sitting on the front steps of the house hunched over his shirt soaked in blood.

I start to run to him but something grabs my attention. Looking, past a hole in the white picket fence, I hear shallow gasping breaths from the other side. Poking my head through I’m met by the naked man curled into the fetal position. The parts of his body not covered in blood have turned a sickly pasty white color. Almost like marble. He lays quivering and gasping as he struggles to stay alive. Looking just beyond him, the body of a soldier and what looks like a serious head wound that must have been made with a rock.

I turn away, looking at something like that for to long can’t be good for you.

“He's here and he's hurt,” I yell up to the attic window, as I run to Louie.

“Coming,” Roger yells back.

Reaching him, his eye stare distantly. “Hey, uhh.” My mind draws a blank, what the hell do I say to a man I barely know in the throws of the last minute of his life. “You… you did a really good job, everyone got out safe. Uhh, Billy is taking
Landen
someplace safe, you… you saved us, thank you Louie.” He blinks slowly, his breathing stuttering then coming to a complete stop. “It was nice to meet you Louie.”

Roger runs up from behind. “Jesus Christ.”

“Ya we’re have to go. Who knows what the army is gona throw at this neighborhood. Was watchtower still up there?”

Roger shakes his head. “They tore him up pretty good.”

“Dam it.”

The other two guys run up to us. “We chased down those runaways they won’t be radioing in anything anytime soon.”

“Good but where the hell do we go now?”

“Wel
l orders are to scout up north.
We’ll see what the military has stocked up there and meet back up at the rendezvous point.”

“Where’s that?” I ask.

“Well I think we should stay on a need to know basis.”

“Well than how about we just start with our names”, Will I tell them holding out my hand. Immediately taken by man probably in his thirties he’s about six feet tall with shaggy unkempt black hair with a perfectly trimmed goatee. “James, James Anderson, it’s a pleasure.”

I turn to the other man holding out my hand.

“And you are?”

“I’m the guy whose gona be protecting your sorry ass because Billy ain’t got no sense in him, that’s who”.

“Don’t mind him, he’s spend a lil to much time playin hide n seek out in the woods.”

“Humph,” the man replies. “Help, you just call me help
.
Yell help when you need me and if I care enough I
just might come to your rescue.
Now we’re going north, grab what ammo you can and let’s head out.”

CHAPTER…

We pat down the dead military grabbing ammo. “Dam I feel like a one-man army!” Roger exhales.

“Ya I feel like I could take on the whole country with all this”.

“Ready?”

“Yep.” I respond.

“Then get your sorry asses up here you’re taking point.”

“Why me?”

“Because you just got inducted into boot camp, this is where we find out if you can make it in this man’s army.”

“Ok,” I tell him as I walk about ten paces ahead
.
      
“Now you there, you’re bringing up the rear, you watch our backs, me an James here will tak
e opposite sides of the street.
That way if they fire on us most of us will be able to get to cover.”

“And the guy they fire at?”

“I don’t know, I left my rosary beads at home,” he coughs.

We walk in silence, each step getting me closer and closer to my death, at least that’s how it feels. Walking for a good twenty
minutes in complete silence.

“Pssst, Pssst,” I turn looking to Help or I guess I’ll just call him H

“What?”

His face like a stone motioning me to get to cover. I quickly run to the side of a house ducking into some bushes. I look to see the others have vacated the streets in one way or another.

“Hey. Hey,” I whisper as loud as I can. “What the hell is going on?” Putting his finger to his lips, grimacing as if me being there has put the whole world on his shoulders
. I lay in silence. Nothing, absolutely nothing, I don’t see anything, I don’t hear anything. Birds,
singing, their songs the only thing to break the silence, the contrast of my emotions almost unbearable as they try and brighten this hellhole situation I’m in. I place my ear to the ground. I don’t know why, I’ve seen so many TV shows where some guy can hear animals that are miles away just by listening to the dirt. Aaaannnnddd nothing. Huh god movies why do you lie to me? I hear fingers snapping behind me. “Help” points to the horizon. And sure enough I start to hear them. Helicopters, jets, airplanes I don’t know but god knows there’s plenty of them. I slink back farther into the bushes. We wait in silences as the sound grows louder. Becoming almost deafening. That’s when we see them. What looks to be a hundred jets, bombers and helicopters all making their way south. Flying right over us the sun blotting out and reappearing probably between them. Well thank god we
got outta downtown I tell myself. I turn onto my back adjusting for the best viewing. An incredible sight. I mean as long as they don’t see us it’s an incredible sight and I don’t mind being in the position I am to view it. The end of the line appears on the horizon. Thank god we’ll be able to move soon. Then I hear it. An undeniable machine gun sounds tearing through the air. Followed by an explosion and rocket fi
re. Not many but several, probably ten
out of the hundred aircraft in the sky, attacking everything. A helicopter gets hit spinning out of control followed by a bright street of yellow and wh
ite light as a missile hits a bomber. “Holy shit!”
Lo
oking to H but he seems
at a loss of ideas, and condescending words. He’s just staring at the sky like me. I look up again to the all out air battle. The deafening sound of heavy machines being hit by rockets their mechanisms trying desperately to stay airborne. Looking across the street I see Roger, his face sunken and confused. I look for orders but H stays fixated on the sky. I look around, a rock a stick something to get his attention. A heavy explosion just above my head. I hear the gears in a helicopter as it slowly spins out of control hurtling down. It’s tale striking the roof
of my house. It swoops over “H
elp” missing him by just a few feet, he looks at me obviously shaken but trying to keep calm.