Renegade World: Future Past (30 page)

Naami?

Yes, Abraham.

Big Brother has found two SUVs and a sedan that are
suspicious. They traveled together past five traffic cameras until Valley City.
The smaller SUV got off at Valley City exit 292 but then got right back on going
west. However, it never showed up on the Valley City 290 camera. The other two
got off at the Valley City exit 294. The larger SUV got back on going west
again but didn’t show up on the 292 camera, and the sedan is sitting across
from the nearest service station off exit 294.

Any guess how many people are in the vehicles?

The video is insufficient to determine the number of
passengers. The largest SUV, the one pointed back to Bismarck, could hold six.
The smaller SUV and sedan could each hold four. 

Plates?

A partial on the large SUV, but nothing on the others.
The large SUV is red, the sedan is light colored, and the other SUV is dark
colored.

Cell tower records?

Big Brother is reading them, but there are too many
calls to tie any of them to those vehicles.

Put together a message for Karl Hunter. I’m going to
suggest that Joe pulls off before Valley City.

“C
harlie, Karl. Change of plans. In a few minutes, Martinez
is going to stop at the service station just off the 94 exit at Tower City, fifteen
miles east of Valley City.”

Why the change?

“He stopped at Valley City on the way there so he figured
he’d change his pattern.”

Reasonable.

“Especially in light of the new info I just received. Three
vehicles traveling east together showed up on five traffic cams east of Bismarck
and west of Valley City. One got off at Valley City exit 292 but then got right
back on going west. It never showed up on the Valley City 290 camera. The other
two got off at the Valley City exit 294. One got back on going west again, and
the other is sitting across from the nearest service station off exit 294.”

So what you’re telling me is that they have all three
Valley City exits covered. They’re looking for someone that’s for sure.

“I agree. I’m assuming the worst. I sent you the pictures
of the vehicles. The resolutions stinks and the colors are almost grayscale,
but it’s the best we’ve got. We’ve got computers monitoring the traffic cameras
at exits 290, 292, and 294. If they move east on 94, we’ll see them.”

We’re about twenty to twenty-five minutes from Tower
City, and Jake is about ten to fifteen minutes away. Tell Martinez to sit tight.

J
ake. Martinez is getting off at Tower City exit 307.
You’ll get there before us. There are three vehicles at Valley City, possibly hostile.
Set up somewhere you can see the Tower Travel Center. Wait for further
instructions.

“Will do, Charlie. Out.”

 “Implant, set destination Tower Travel Center and display Google
Earth for the Tower Travel Center.  Give me an ETA on the minute.”
His
implant flashed ETA 6 minutes, as it displayed the Google Earth view. “Implant,
show me street view. Give me a slow circle around the building, wide as
possible.”

No hills, but the area across the street with grass,
bushes, and trees looks promising if it’s not out of date.

Jake’s implant flashed ETA 4 minutes as he took the wheel. “Implant,
give me manual control.”

Jake.

“Yes, Charlie.”

I’ve got Martinez on. Hostiles are moving towards Tower City,
ETA 8 minutes or less.

Jake accelerated to 120.
“
Where’s your vehicle,
Martinez?”

It’s at the charging station north end of the center.

“Great. Does the cover look good across the street from
there?”

Yes. Grass, bushes, and trees.

“I’m going to set up there. Get everyone out of the
building. Leave your vehicle at the charging station. Move northeast to the
trees past the parking lot. Charlie, that will leave the south and east sides
wide open for you when you arrive.”

Sounds good. Stay safe, both of you.

Jake slowed to fifty as he exited, shot past the Tower
Travel Center as he braked, and took a hard left on the gravel road across the
street from the north end of the center’s lot. Two hundred feet in, he whipped
a u-turn and skidded to a stop behind the trees. As he flung open the door and
scrambled out, the rear hatch popped. He grabbed his two rifles, his bag, and a
blanket and then ran down the dirt path toward the position he had picked out
across from the north charging station.

N
aami had just left the bathroom when she heard Joe
shout. “Naami, get Raul and Camila, and get everyone out of the building.” She
turned back as Raul came out of the building. As she passed him, she whispered,
“Grab the Hi-Points.”

She threw open the door and saw a dozen or so people. In a
voice much lower than her usual voice, she yelled, “Everyone out now! Sergeant
Martinez just got a report that this building will be attacked in less than two
minutes.”

Camila screamed, “She’s not joking. Get out now.”

Naami pushed the door back open. “Go north. They’re coming
from the interstate.” She ran toward the SUV with Camila close behind. 

“Give me the backpacks,” she yelled to Raul.

As she grabbed the backpacks, Joe pointed across the
parking lot. “Run that way.”

“The trophies are bugged. I’ll catch up to you.”

She dashed for the building, a car spraying her with gravel
as it swerved past her. At the building, she jerked the door open and slid a
trophy under a table. As she ran to the bathroom, she pulled out the other
trophy.  As soon as she unlocked the bathroom door, she threw the other trophy
in and sprinted after the other three.

J
ake lay under the blanket and swept the parking lot,
building, and the bridge over 94 with his rifle scope. His field of fire was
excellent, and the well-lit building, charging stations, and eight light posts
provided more than enough light for his scope. As he swept back to the
building, he saw people scrambling into their cars. Sweeping further left, he
saw Martinez pointing at the northeast side of the parking lot. He was carrying
what looked like an AR-15, and the boy held two carbines that he didn’t
recognize. 

What the devil is she doing?
As the other three ran
away from the building, the girl dashed towards it, almost getting clipped by a
car. Reaching the building, she opened the door and slid something across the
floor. Running another fifteen feet, she opened the women’s bathroom with a
key, threw something in, and sprinted after the others.

He watched her disappear into the trees and then swept his
scope back to the bridge.
Anytime now
. He looked over at his other
rifle, resting on its bipod.
Doubt I’ll need it at this range, but it’s good
to have backup.
The 338 Lapua bolt action rifle was his favorite distance
rifle, but the suppressed 6.8 SPC with its thirty round mag was a better choice
here where most the shots would be under a hundred yards.

A
s she ran into the trees, Naami saw Joe and Camila
strapping the backpacks to their chests. “I told them about the ballistic protection in our jackets and backpacks.”
Raul tightened the strap across his mom’s back
and helped her put her jacket back on. The strap was too short for Joe,
but when he zipped his jacket over, it was tight enough to hold the backpack in place.

Joe picked up his rifle. “You three stay here out of sight.
Jake should be in place across the road from the convenience center. ” He
pointed down the tree line toward the road. “I’m going over there.” He pointed
to their carbines. “It’s best if you don’t fire at all, but under no
circumstance should you fire unless Jake or I fire.” He nodded to Camila and
disappeared through the trees.

Naami walked twenty feet in the other direction as she
pulled her hood on and tightened the drawstring. Cradling her carbine, she
dropped to her knees, leaned forward on her elbows, and started crawling
forward.

“What are you doing Naami?”

She turned to Camila. “I’m getting in position to defend
us just in case. Don’t worry. I’ll stay hidden.” She turned back and
slithered forward.

J
ake pulled the blanket a little higher on his shoulders.
His hat and jacket also had active camouflage, but the blanket masked his heat
signature.

“Implant, connect Charlie Means.”

Jake. We’re four minutes—

Jake’s implant flashed a signal lost message just as three
vehicles accelerated across the bridge over 94. “Implant, keep trying to
reconnect.”
The two SUVs and the sedan skidded to a halt, the large SUV positioned
near the building’s north door, the small SUV blocking the front of Martinez’ vehicle,
and the sedan blocking the rear. Doors flew open, and fourteen
men climbed out, all of them holding military rifles.
I’m outgunned.
He
grinned.
But I like my odds. Location, location, and location.

“Implant, how long since that signal was lost?”

One minute and thirty-six seconds.

“Implant, alert me in one minute.”

Four of the men aimed their rifles at Martinez’s car as
another pulled open both passenger side doors and peered in.  He shook his head
as the five men joined the others who all had their rifles pointed at the
building.

One minute, Jake.

Come on you idiots. All of you open fire.

As soon as they opened fire on the building, he planned to
take the four standing back furthest from the others first.
Yes!
All
fourteen opened fire on the building, allowing him three shots before any of
the other hostiles noticed. As he lined up the next shot, he saw other hostiles
going down.
Martinez.
He pulled the trigger and took out another. All
but two were down.
What the
— Before he pulled his trigger, his next
target went down, shot in the pelvis. He swept right as the last hostile
slipped around the back of the building.

Charlie’s SUV skidded to a stop, and doors opened as Jake
ran toward the building.  “Charlie, one of them slipped away. The rest are down,
but not all of them are dead.”

Charlie nodded to his brother. “Russ, go with Jake. Carlos,
let’s clean up here, so it’s safe for your family to come out.”  He began kicking weapons
away from the wounded men, all of whom were shot through the pelvis. The dead
were shot through the head.

Jake edged along the north wall of the building with Russ
behind him. When he got to the end of the building, he took a quick peek around
the corner and shook his head. He pointed at next building, almost a hundred
yards ahead, and signaled Russ that he was going to run for it. A gun fired
from somewhere behind that building, and he heard a boy’s scream from across
the parking lot.

R
aul screamed as the bullet hit his mom, knocking her
down. He threw himself on top of her. Naami saw the shooter running northeast
through the trees and ran to intercept him. He raised one hand, and there was
an explosion. She glanced back and saw that Joe’s SUV had exploded, knocking Raul’s
father down.
He was too close.

The shooter’s path was taking him toward an opening where
she would have an open shot. She knelt down and fired, hitting him in the
thigh. He went down hard but rolled up and pointed the gun at her, but she put
two shots into his chest before he could fire. As she ran toward him, he coughed.
He’s wearing body
armor.
She was on him before he could get his rifle up, smashing him
between the eyes with the barrel of her gun.

She kicked his rifle away and then took off her hood.  Without
turning she said, “It’s been a while, Jake.” She took a deep breath and let it
out, not wanting to think about what happened to Raul’s parents, fearing the
worst.

“Are you OK, Naami?”

“I’m not hurt, but I…”

She sat down, suddenly weak, as sirens wailed in the
distance. Jake offered her his hand and helped her up.

Russ had gone to check on Raul and his mom. He yelled,
“They’re OK. The ballistic backpack stopped the bullet. She’s getting her
breath back now.”

Raul hugged his mom. “Uncle Joe’s car…it blew up!”

The sirens got closer. “Where’s my husband? Where’s
Carlos?”

“I don’t know, ma’am,” said Russ. “If you’re up to it,
let’s walk over and find out.”

Naami felt the tears flowing down her face.
Let me be
wrong.

Five sheriff’s cars pulled into the lot, and the sheriff
and five deputies got out, guns drawn.  “Holy hell! It looks like a warzone. Is
one of you,
Sergeant Martinez?”

Joe didn’t look up from trying to stop Carlos’ bleeding. “I
am, sir. My brother-in-law needs an ambulance.”

“One will be here any minute, but I need to see some ID.”

“My CAC and driver’s license are in the wallet in my back
pocket.”

“Billings, get his wallet and check his ID.”

Deputy Billings took the wallet out of Joe’s pocket and
pulled out two cards. “Yeah. Marine Sergeant Joe Martinez.”

“OK. Help him stop the bleeding. The rest of you, lower
your guns and see about triage for the bad guys.”

Raul ran towards his dad. “Is he going to be OK?”

Joe glanced at Raul. “Stay with your mom! We’ve almost got
the bleeding stopped. That’s a good thing.”

The ambulance pulled up, the EMTs jumped out, and moved him
onto the stretcher. Naami leaned into Jake so Raul wouldn’t see her tears.

Naami couldn’t stop her tears as she watched Raul’s father
loaded onto the ambulance.
He never moved.
Camila and Raul climbed up,
and the ambulance sped away.

Charlie threw his keys to Joe. “Go. I’ll get a ride.”

The sheriff shook his head as more ambulances pulled up.
“One hell of a night. Terrorist attacks at twenty other locations besides this
one.”