Redaction: The Meltdown Part II (21 page)

The environment was going to be royally fucked in a couple of days when the power plant blew up. But they didn’t know that. They didn’t need to know that. It was just one more bogeyman to chase from their nightmares. “Okay. Cap it, put it back in the bag and we’ll toss it when we get to Palo Verde.”

“Are the soldiers there?” Olivia asked.

None that were alive. At least, none had answered Mavis Spanner’s or the military’s calls. “We were on a mission when we found you.”

“I found
you
,” Olivia corrected.

“Exactly. So we have to complete the mission and then we’re all going to join the soldiers.” Or what’s left of them. Thousands had died on their first and last night at camp. Maybe there wouldn’t be any left in three days.

“Heads up, Papa,” Falcon barked in his ear. “We got lights in the distance.”

Lights? People. His heart thudded painfully in his chest. People could take away the kidlets. Or… Hadn’t B said the meltdown might be a flash of light, not a mushroom cloud? His mouth dried. “Is it…”

“Hot damn!” Brainiac shouted. “The power plant still has electricity.”

He sunk into his seat. Thank God! They hadn’t arrived too late. “Toby, back in your seat. Jillie buckle up. Olivia, feet on the floor.”

Olivia’s bare feet hit the carpet with a thud and she leaned forward in the bucket seat. “I don’t see it.”

“There!” Jillie tapped the window. “Is that it? The place with the lights?”

“Let me see.” Instead of returning to his seat, Toby squeezed in behind the chair and pressed his face against the window.

“Toby! Get back in your seat.” What could the kid be thinking? He was traveling at over sixty miles per hour. Didn’t he know he could get killed if they hit something.

“I wants ta see.” The preschooler didn’t budge. “Oooh, pretty.”

“Now, you’ve seen get back in your seat.” His damp palms slipped on the wheel. The boy still hadn’t moved. “Jillie, help your brother back into his seat.”

Her attention snapped to him and their eyes locked in the rearview.

“Now, young lady.”

An odd look flashed on her face. There and gone before he could decipher its meaning. “Come on, Toby.”

“I yike the lights.” Toby waited patiently while Jillie undid the seatbelt then climbed up, raising his hands above his head until she secured him.

“I wanna see,” Olivia whispered.

“You will.” He checked the mirror.

Jillie flounced into her seat and shoved the belt into the latch. “Happy now?”

“Yes.” Night leaned against the windows and the children wiggled closer to the interior light. “Let’s get a good look at where we’re going.”

He stomped on the accelerator and swerved into the oncoming lane. Three domed reactors rose like bone-white tombstones from the blackened desert. Lights pockmarked the concrete and brick buildings clawing at the reactors. He gulped. “It’s huge.”

Certainly a hell of a lot bigger than a nuclear sub.

“You got this covered, right B?”
Say yes.

“Sure, Papa. No sweat.”

He scraped his hand down his face and swung behind the tanker. No sweat, huh? Then why did the squid’s voice shake?

Olivia craned her neck. “Can we stay the night?”

Hell no! Didn’t she see the danger? But she didn’t, no one had until so many people died that Mother Nature had no choice but to hammer the final nail in humanity’s coffin. “We’re on a dangerous mission, so I’m going to need all of you to stay close and do as you’re told. No questions. No arguing. Got it?”

Olivia nodded. “So we can stay?”

“For the night and maybe most of tomorrow.” Then they’d get the hell outta Tonopah and hightail it to the soldiers and safety. “You understand the rules, Jillie?”

“Yeah.” Jillie stretched the word into three syllables. “I’m not deaf, you know.”

He bit back his retort. Sarcasm was wasted on the young. “I’m counting on you two to look after Toby.” Jillie glared at Olivia. “It’ll take both, because the little squirt can get into trouble lickety-split.”

Jillie crossed her arms and flung herself against the seat back. “I know how to watch him.”

He’d have to talk to the girl, explain that Olivia needed her too.

“I’s not a squirt.” Toby hugged his teddy bear. “I’s a munchkin.”

“I’ll help.” Olivia snuck a peek at the backseat.

“Good.” He followed the tanker off Wintersburg Road onto a side street. It wouldn’t be long now. Instructions welled up in his throat. He should have spent time warning them instead of trying to fix them. “I’ll—”

“Heads up, Papa Rose.” The tanker’s brake lights bathed the car’s interior in a bloody hue. Gears ground as Brainiac downshifted. “We’re pulling up to the guard station.”

Why had Falcon let the squid drive? The sailor manned boats not semis. “Roger that.”

“Fuck me!” Pride colored Falcon’s voice in phosphorescent hues. “They’ve got tanks guarding the place. Four. Five. Six of them. Flash your lights.”

Yeah, they didn’t want to be blown to bits, not when they were so close to completing their mission. All they had to do was transfer the gas to the generators, make sure the reactors were powered down and voilà, everyone got four extra days on the Earth’s surface.

What could possibly go wrong?

Lifting his foot off the accelerator, he coasted behind the big rig. Tanks. Well, why not? Too bad the attack had come from tiny kids toys. There’d better be a particularly nasty corner of Hell for the asshole that dreamt up that offensive. He lifted his Sig-Sauer from the door’s pocket. “I want you guys to lay low until I say so. Got it?”

“Toby’s already low.” Jillie laid her head behind the sleeping boy’s and set her hand on the chubby one holding the teddy bear.

“Am I low enough?” Olivia slouched in her seat. The interior dome light sparkled on her silver emergency blanket.

Her head stuck a couple of inches above the window. A good target for a half-assed sniper. “Why don’t you sit on the floor and put your head on the cushion?”

Eyes wide, she nodded and unclipped her seatbelt.

“You could come back here.” Jillie stuck her hand between the two front seats.

Olivia clasped it and dove into the back. The blanket snapped like a cape behind her and her foot collided with his elbow. “We can share the blanket.”

“Thanks.”

He rubbed the ache from his arm and stopped the car. “Okay, we just have to clear the checkpoint.”

Hopefully without shooting. He set his hand on the gear. Maybe if he threw it in reverse, he could get the kids far enough away before the tanker exploded.

Falcon swore softly. “It’s unmanned. I repeat the station and tank are empty. I’m going to unlock the gate.”

The Prius stilled underneath his feet. God, he hated that. It always felt like the engine died. “You need help?”

“This isn’t amateur hour.”

He heard the cab’s door shut.

“Hey, Papa?” Brainiac drummed on the dashboard to an old AC/DC song. “You think the same kids that go to special ed classes later have to go to Special Forces when they enlist?”

The squid must have been thinking up that one all day. “Sounds about right to me. Notice how Falcon barely speaks, gotta be some mental handicap in there somewhere.”

“Fuck you two.” Falcon popped the lock then there was a click and the gate rattled as he pushed it open.

“Obvious anger issues.” Brainiac tsked.

“Probably why they wear the funny colored hats, too.” He scanned the fence encircling the property. Damn. Why wasn’t there a coyote or bird or something out? This stillness made his balls itch. “Helps to know at a glance what kind a mental midget you’re dealing with.”

“While you two comedians are yucking it up, I’m doing the heavy lifting.” Falcon grunted. “The job was the death of old Fred here.”

He tensed and clicked the safety off his weapon. “Foul play?”

“Natural causes. Or what passes for it nowadays. There’s a damn Burgers in a Basket plushie sitting on his computer monitor.” An odd clicking sound drifted through the com. “I’m lowering the pylons now.”

“Why would they have pylons?” Brainiac scoffed. Air brakes burped then the tanker drifted forward. “I mean, anyone who wanted in could just plow through the fence.”

“And the guards with automatic weapons would pick ‘em off if they got close to the reactors.” Falcon breathed heavier, no doubt sweeping through the building.

“And the fields are mined on the other side,” Papa interjected. Why should Falcon be the only one pulling lies out of his ass? “Go off the paved road and boom!”

“Really?” The brake light flared as Brainiac coasted by the guard station.

“No, you dipshit.” Falcon ghosted out of the building and behind the truck, flipping the bird while passing in front of the Toyota’s hood. “Papa’s just messing with your squishy squid brain.”

Killjoy. He jackrabbited the car close to the other man’s legs. “Are you finished snapping holiday pictures, Falcon? Can we get on with the mission?”

“Patience.” Falcon disappeared around the side of the tanker. A moment later, the cab door slammed.

The tanker picked up speed.

“Name’s Papa Rose and if you don’t know it by now, you might wanna take a refresher course in Special Ed.” He shifted into drive and followed the truck. Headlamps illuminated construction equipment until it was subsumed by shadows.

“Can we get up now?” Olivia stared up at him from the back floor.

“Not yet.” He leaned into the turn. The reactors and assorted buildings blazed on the left. Plenty of places for a sniper to hide. “But soon.”

“‘Kay.” She shrunk back down but her hand gripped the teddy bear’s.

They’d be okay. He’d make sure they’d be okay. Whatever it took. They braked at an intersection and turned left, heading for two bat-shaped three-story buildings. The hair on his neck rose as he scanned the area. What was pinging his ‘oh shit’ meter?

“Falcon?” He had to be missing something, but what? His senses sharpened. Rows of black birds studded the field of skeletal towers. A Burgers in a Basket hamburger wrapper flapped against a curb. Private vehicles decomposed slowly in faded parking spots.

“Copy that,” Falcon whispered. “Despite the lights there’s too damn many shadows.”

As they coasted past an arrow-shaped parking lot, he caught motion from the corner of his eye. “Ten o’clock. The camera moved.” He slapped the steering wheel. The impact rattled up his arm. “Someone is tracking our movements.”

Brainiac snorted and led them through the parking lot toward a pill bug-like buildings. “They’re probably motion activated. Man, are you paranoid.”

“Doesn’t mean someone’s not out to get us,” Falcon answered. “You know where you’re going, B?”

Driving with one hand, he kept the gun in the other. This corridor was the perfect place for an ambush.

“The generator rooms are next to the reactors.”

Like that helped. There were buildings all around the damn domes. “Can you be a little more specific?”

Brainiac pulled the truck to a stop near a black rectangle. “Not until I check it out.”

“Well, hell, I need to stretch my legs anyway.” Falcon spoke just at the lights on the tanker died. “How’re the munchkins, Papa?”

Parking behind the squid, he glanced in the back seat. Toby slept on but tremors rippled through the wide-eyed girls. “Holding up.”

“We’re going to need you for this jaunt.” Falcon appeared at the back of the truck.

“Roger that.” Killing the engine, he released his seatbelt and twisted on the seat. He tucked the blanket around Olivia’s shoulder. “I’ll be right back. You’re safe for now, but I think you should keep low until I get back.”

“Will you come back?” A single tear skipped down Olivia’s cheek.

“I promised to take you to the soldiers and I will.” He swept a blond strand off Jillie’s forehead. “I never break a promise. Now be good and I should be back in a few minutes.”

“You’ll leave the light on?” Jillie bit her knuckle.

“You bet.” He stepped out of the car. A beep warned him of the light but he shut the door anyway. Gun in hand, he joined Brainiac and Falcon by the tanker. “What’s the plan?”

“They alright in there?” Falcon jerked his head toward the Toyota.

“Toby’s sleeping. Olivia and Jillie are scared but keeping it together for each other.” He stood a little straighter. No whining or wailing from his girls.

With his M-4, Brainiac pointed to the boxy building in front of them. Two round tanks separated it from the dark rectangular pool they’d parked alongside. “I think this is the generator room.”

Falcon checked his gun. One in the chamber. “Let’s check it out.”

The former Green Beret took point. Papa Rose scanned the road. Nothing moved in the light puddles. Pivoting, he jogged behind B. His attention never rested any place too long. His stomach cramped. Both of them were expendable, this was Brainiac’s show. He hoped the squid gave a command performance.

They quickly arrived at a plain steel door with a black access panel beside it. A diamond with colors and numbers was screwed to the wall next to a red box marked
emergency phone
.

“I was right.” Brainiac pumped the air. “This is the generator room.”

“How can you tell?” Papa Rose eyed the camera staring at him from the corner. His finger twitched on the trigger. Someone had to be behind it, watching them. But why weren’t they confronted when they entered the site?

B tapped the red number. “Flammable not radioactive. They have to be inside.”

Falcon worked a pinch of white explosive in between his fingers. “Let’s have a look.”

“Don’t move! Or I’ll kill us all.” A male voice blared around them before disintegrating into a cough.

“What the fuck!” He aimed at the double headed speakers hanging a foot over the door. Brainiac hadn’t been the only one to be right. They weren’t alone.

B turned toward the camera and slung his M-4 on his shoulder. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he yelled. “We’re here to help. We have fuel.”

“I can’t hear you, you idiot.” The man managed between coughs.

“Papa.” Falcon jerked his head toward the phone box.

Since when had he been knighted the great communicator? Lowering his gun, he ripped open the box and lifted the headset. The plastic was cold against his ear. The phone rang once. Twice.