Infinity's Reach (20 page)

“We are very close to wrapping this whole thing up. But the key of our success has always been superiority in technology and having weaponry that the other side doesn’t have. They outnumber us 30 to one, but for the most part they don’t have armor, vehicles, automatic rifles or ammunition. We have to stay ahead of them. If they get access to modern weapons….” He simply shook his head.

“Let’s just say that I will have regretting the day I decided to stop teaching history.”

I cleared my throat, and he looked up and nodded for me to continue.

“Sir, I understand and appreciate the fragile situation we are in,” I said. “But you did say you had an assignment for me.”

“ I do. It’s here.” He pointed at the map and I saw the words, “Oklahoma City.”

“The general staff is concerned about the Mississippi Valley, but I suspect that many of the new supplies are headed west. The resistance has formed a central fortified location in Oklahoma City that is acting as a communication and transportation for all points west, north and south. From there, I predict they will be sending weapons to forces located in the west, the place they call Camp Zion. Right now, those forces are being isolated by General Lao-Tse, whom you know as General Despair. If those weapons get to the resistance forces, we could lose the entire west.”

I nodded, the wheels turning in my mind.

“What do you need me to do?”

“I have a strike team ready to hit Oklahoma City in a week. In the meantime, I need you to infiltrate the fortress and see what information you can gather about the plans the enemy has.”

I nodded, aware that the meeting had come to an end. I saluted, and Colonel Apollyon saluted back. I spun on my heels and turned to leave. Then I paused and turned back.

“Sir, has the thought occurred to you that Infinity Richards could be traveling as a boy—a
teenage
boy?”

The Colonel pursed his lips and nodded.

“That thought has crossed my mind. You have your orders, Captain. But Captain, as always, if an opportunity presents itself…take it.”

I nodded and left the office.
  
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24. CROSSROADS

EVANGELIST: OKLAHOMA CITY: DAY 1585

We had traded stealth for speed. The enemy knew that we were on the move, that we’d discovered a cache of weapons, and that we were eager to strike and strike hard. The discovery of the arsenal had a triple reward for us. First, knowing that they now had the weapons they needed, National Guardsmen from a dozen states were gathering to take back St. Louis, and with it, the entire Mississippi Valley.

Second, the secret list of three other bunkers that had been discovered at the arsenal was quickly escorted to Command at Hot Springs. Command had determined how best to use the weapons and then had sent quick response units out to gather the weapons before they were stolen by the Coalition or bombed into uselessness.

And finally, the rumor mill had given us a good turn for once. Rumors that we were launching an all-out campaign to take back the U.S., that nuclear submarines were sailing up the Mississippi, that aircraft carriers were stationed off our West Coast did nothing but rally more and more soldiers into our midst. Many we sent back with instructions to resist occupation in their own counties and states, but many more we sent off to secret locations for training. I didn’t know how many had signed up in the past few weeks—only Command knew that for sure—but I imagined it to be in the hundreds of thousands.

By the time I had Pilgrim outfitted again and we were ready to go, we witnessed caravan after caravan of soldiers and supplies headed in all directions. Pilgrim and I watched the various vehicles and soldiers on foot traveling by, and I could tell that she felt a sense of pride for our motley troops, just as I did. And even though it felt strange to finally be out in public with the fact that we were American soldiers ready to fight, it felt good too.

We left Hot Springs on August 12, just after midnight. Pilgrim insisted on sticking with her motorcycle she had named Kawasaki, and so I rounded up a bike as similar to hers as I could find.

It was 350 miles to Oklahoma City. By the time the sun was coming up, we had crossed the mountains and were on the plains just east of the city. We didn’t try to hide who we were or where we were going anymore. I was sure that the Coalition’s spy satellites and high-flying recon drones were following us as well as every other troop movement. But I believed that there was so much activity going on right now, they would be hard pressed to figure out who we were and what we were doing.

I couldn’t help but be impressed by the work that had been done around Fortress Oklahoma City. When we got within ten miles of the City Center, we started seeing roadblocks with guards armed with automatic weapons, antiaircraft sites for the inevitable drone attack, engineers laying out minefields, and even one or two attack helicopters on patrol. I was so used to hiding from helicopters I was a bit uneasy the first time I saw one that was on our side.

Fortunately for us, I got the proper papers to get us through all the checkpoints. Nevertheless, it took us most of the morning to finally make it to the train station. We parked our motorcycles outside the station in a section reserved for messenger bicycles.

“We could ride on our bikes all the way to the West Coast,” I told her. “And my priority used to be just getting you back to your father. But this new load of weapons changed the picture dramatically.

“Up to this point, the Coalition has been kicking our butts not because they outnumber us, or because they are better soldiers, but simply because they had better weapons. This train has enough firepower on it to change that.

“I have faith in our boys assaulting St. Louis. I’m pretty confident they can kick Ajax’s butt along with anything else they send their way. So while the Coalition is focusing on St. Louis, we are going to take the battle to him. There’s a Coalition general out west—we call him General Despair—who is bad news. He hates your Dad something fierce, and he is bound and determined to find Camp Zion and destroy it once and for all.

“But we have other plans for him.” I grinned at Infinity, and said no more.

When we got inside, I realized something was wrong. I had expected a strictly military approach to boarding and disembarking from the trains, but even I, who didn’t consider himself a part of the military but still a Secret Service agent, knew that something was wrong. Guards were even more careful about letting people through checkpoints, and some of the soldiers, who wore a silver star on an armband on their left arm, were looked at warily by everyone else.

“What gives?” I asked one of the soldiers, gesturing at the star on the sleeve of a cluster of soldiers who passed by.

“They’re National Guardsmen from Texas,” he said. “They think the rules that apply to everyone don’t apply to them.”

“What do you mean?”

“A lot of them were stationed up north, but they’re planning on leaving and going back to Texas. The war against the cartels has heated up down there, and the state is talking about secession.”

“What?”

He nodded. “If that happens, we’re going to lose tens of thousands of troopers. Guess you can’t blame them. Their families are under attack and they’re stuck up here.”

I stared at the young men in fatigues who looked out of place in the train station. Suddenly we heard a gun go off somewhere on the other side of the station. Everyone ducked, and then we heard more shots.

I had my head down just like everyone else, but when I turned around, Infinity was nowhere to be seen. Panicked, I began looking around for her. Suddenly I heard her voice over the crowd, and then saw her standing at the top of the stairs.

“STOP IT, ALL OF YOU! The enemy is out there, and you’re helping them by shooting at each other.” As if by magic, her words began settling the crowd down.

“We are all here for the same thing,” she continued. “We’re here to defeat the enemy and win this war. We’re here to win our country back.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” someone shouted with a Texas drawl. “Your home isn’t being taken over by criminals.”

“No, my home was Baltimore,” she said. “It doesn’t exist anymore. The reality is, all of us are being invaded, being attacked. All of us are fighting for our homes. But we have to fight together. It’s only by working together that we can win this thing.”

She paused to see what kind of response she would hear. Instead of booing or applause, I heard something that gave me chills. Distant booming, followed by the wail of air raid sirens. Then the booming got closer, and I heard the unmistakable sound of jets. I stood and shouted to everyone:

“Drone attack coming! Everyone out of here!”

And then everyone heard the same roar of jets, followed by the pop-pop-pop of antiaircraft. The busy train station turned into pandemonium. I ran toward Infinity, just as I heard the whistle of our train. One whistle meant ready to leave. And it did start to leave.

I ran up the steps three at a time and grabbed Infinity by the arm, then turned and dragged her down the steps as fast as I could. We hit the main floor and ran into a panic-stricken crowd, each person running in another direction.

A doorway exploded some distance away. People screamed. There was the sound of rockets and chain guns opening up. I couldn’t tell if they were our guns or theirs. At that point, it didn’t matter.

I pushed and hit my way through the crowd, slowly headed in the direction of the train, which had started to move. A hundred people stood between the two of us and the slow moving train, and I knew that the train would not be moving slow for very long.

“We’re not going to make it!” Infinity muttered behind me.

“Yes we are,” I said, and gritted my teeth. I drew my pistol and shot it into the air, and the crowd parted before me. I took a deep breath and Infinity and I ran for the train.

The train was fifty feet away and already moving. Then it was thirty feet. By the time we got to the track it was on, it was already well down the track. I shouted one word and didn’t look back:

“Run!”

Trusting—praying—that Infinity was behind me, I sprinted down the track toward the caboose of the disappearing train. I dropped my rifle and backpack and put everything I had into the chase. Ten seconds later, I had a grip on the back of the train railing. I gripped it with all my strength and pulled myself onto the train.

“Take my hand,” I yelled as I turned to grab Infinity’s. But my hand grabbed air.

As the train picked up speed, I looked back at empty track.
  
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25. JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS

INFINITY: OKLAHOMA CITY: DAY 1585

As soon as Evangelist started running for the train, I knew we were in trouble. I hadn’t told him that my knee had been bothering me ever since I had left the bunker, and when he took off sprinting after the train, I knew I would never catch him. I also realized that I was no longer his first priority, and he was right. A trainload full of weapons was a lot more important than one man’s daughter, regardless of who that man was.

And so I watched Evangelist run for an instant, then turned back into the crowd. The frantic soldiers pushed me this way and that, and I realized that if I were to stay in the railroad station it would be akin to painting a bull’s eye on my back. And so I left. 

As soon as I got out of the station, I realized that I had another option. Kawasaki was standing right where I’d left her, and I had gotten more and more comfortable riding her over the past few weeks. I leaped on the saddle and kick-started her into life. I spun her in place, and raced off in pursuit of the train.

The soldiers who had been so careful to stop us at each checkpoint were now otherwise occupied, and they scarcely paid attention as I raced past them. I cut across the broad parking lot outside the train station and headed west, but then realized that a block of buildings was in my way. Beyond them, I saw the smoke rising from the train headed west.

I looked around, not sure where to go or what to do. If I were to catch the train, I had to decide quickly. As I sat there with the motor idling, guns continued to shoot incessantly into the air, for the most part at nothing I could see, but every once in a while connecting with something up high in the atmosphere. Then I saw it.

Off to the south I saw the rise of a freeway overpass. I followed it as it curved off to the south and then turned west again. If I followed it, there was a chance that the freeway would run parallel with the railroad tracks.

Once again I spun the bike in place and took off with smoke and screaming tires toward the overpass. I weaved past soldiers who were running and abandoned vehicles and found the onramp and took it. Then I opened up the throttle.

When I got the top of the onramp, I got lucky twice. First, four years since The Event had given the people of Oklahoma City time to clear the freeway of cars. That made it possible for me to crank my bike into high gear. The second bit of luck was that I could see ahead, and saw that the train was still in sight, and we were going in the same direction.