The Fallen (18 page)

The cook stopped.  “Yeah fuck you, you British fuck, and your crippled wife.”

Tim ignored the cook and closed the embassy door behind him.  He went into the kitchen and found the steaks that had been cooking, took three and went back upstairs to the strong room.  He locked the door behind him and gave a steak to Sarah whose eyes lit up.  The other two steaks lay sweating on a plastic bag in front of him but he wasn’t hungry.

Chapter 27

Brian paced the lobby near the main entrance.  Marius and Zakorski had disappeared - to the living quarters he guessed - leaving him the lone civilian in a military world.  The pens had been finished several hours ago but there was no sign of the prisoners or the vehicles that had gone to fetch them.  It was getting dark and the people around him were starting to worry.  A heavily armed search party had been hurriedly organised and was about to leave when over the radio of a soldier standing nearby came a panicked voice, “We’re coming back, we’re coming back, we lost the lieutenant, the lieutenant’s dead.”

The doors were opened and a single truck and Humvee drove inside, skidding to a halt.  Brian noticed blood on the side of the vehicles.  As the soldiers got out, he saw some were badly wounded and most had scratches and bite marks on their hands and faces. 

“There were just so many of them, they overran us, they killed the lieutenant and Phillips and Tang, and Davis…” said one of the men, his voice trailing off as he wandered aimlessly away from the truck.

Brian moved to the back of the truck.  There were writhing bodies stacked inside, wrists and feet bound with cable ties; about eighteen women.  He noticed that the feet at the bottom of the pile were not moving and knew he had to do something. “Hey get these people out of here, they’re suffocating!”

Four soldiers ran over and started unloading the truck.  Even under all the grime it was clear to Brian that the women had been selected for their age and looks.  Those who were moving had given up trying to break free of their binds but some still tried to bite the soldiers unloading them.  A bruised and bloodied private holding a bottle of water and shakily smoking a cigarette walked over to Brian and stood next to him, watching the women being unloaded. 

“I hope they were worth it,” said the private, “I told them not to be too picky, but they wouldn’t listen.  We almost had the first truck loaded when we got mobbed; pressed in so tight I couldn’t lift my weapon.  Baker managed to pull me up through the window and we just ploughed our way out in the truck.  The others weren’t so lucky.  One thing’s for sure, I’m sure as hell not going back out there to do that again.”  The private took one last look at the truck, threw his cigarette on the ground and walked away. 

Three of the women hadn’t made it, the rest were taken to the pens, where Marius and Zakorski had returned and were co-ordinating the confinement.  They had been expecting to put several people in each but with so few it meant the women had individual cells.  Zakorski looked concerned by the selection process that had taken place. 

“I thought it was a rescue mission, not selection for a breeding programme,” said Marius.  If it was a joke, Zakorski wasn’t laughing. 

One of the soldiers assigned to her team, a small man holding a broom, leered at the captives. “Yeah, so do we get to pick by rank, because you know a lottery would be fairer.”

Zakorski pulled out her side arm and pointed at the soldier. “If anyone says another word about these women, I will shoot them myself.”

“Is there a problem Captain?” said the Brigadier, who had apparently come to inspect the cargo personally.

“I thought we were taking people for re-integration Sir,” said Zakorski.

“We are Captain, indeed we are.  Carry on – and Zakorski clean the prisoners, they stink,” said the Brigadier, eying the cages before disappearing as quickly as he had arrived. 

Once the Brigadier was out of earshot, Zakorski turned to Brian and Marius.  “This is getting worse by the minute, we’ve got to do something.”

“There is nothing we can do, at least not for now,” said Marius.

“Well we can’t just let this happen Marius, we’ve got to do
something
,” said Zakorski.

“Like what?” said Marius, “Stage a mutiny?  Would you be the mountain queen once the king is dead?  The only thing holding this place together is military discipline; once that has gone, you won’t be just dealing with a mad General or sadistic Brigadier - you’ll be dealing with a couple of hundred armed men, each with his own idea of how things should be run.  The way I see it is we have two choices; we can either stay, or we can try to leave.”

“What about the women?” said Brian.

Marius had clearly already made a decision.  “If we leave, we can’t take them with us, they’re too dangerous and there’s too many of them; what are we going to do, keep them on a leash?  I don’t think releasing them back into the wild is the kind thing to do either, do you Brian?”

“Look, I just don’t want to go back out there,” said Brian, “Marius, I’m not going back out there.”

“Do you want to stay here and be part of this?” said Marius.

“Well, no I…” said Brian.

He placed his hand on Brian’s shoulder.  “My grandfather was in the German army.  He was a good man, a loyal soldier but he was transferred to an SS Unit.  He saw the things they did, the things they were doing.  He knew he couldn’t be part of it and he knew he couldn’t stop them either.”

“What did he do?” said Zakorski.

“He escaped, he fled to Poland, and was shot by the partisans.”

“We can’t just walk out the front door, I would be shot for desertion if we were caught,” said Zakorski, “And I’m not sure either of you would fare much better.”

“Then there’s the small matter of the crazy world beyond the front door,” said Marius, “If half those soldiers didn’t make it back alive, what chance do we actually stand if we do manage to escape?”

“Well I didn’t sign up for this; rape, pillage and gassing my own people.  They may have lost their humanity but they’re still humans,” said Zakorski.

Brian looked at the women in the cages, most of them were curled up on the floor and crying.  “Are you talking about the savages outside or the ones in uniform?”

At that moment the radio operator from Zakorski’s team ran up to her with an astonished look on his face.  Out of breath, he didn’t even notice the women. “Captain, Captain, you need to come to the radio room now.”

Zakorski looked puzzled.  “Have you picked something up Private?” She was expecting him to say he’d heard some ham radio survivalist who’d just crawled out of his private bunker.

The Corporal nodded, “It’s a sub Captain, the USS Jimmy Carter, she’s moored off the Pacific Coast.”

“A sub!” She couldn’t believe it. 

A soldier standing nearby overheard and yelled the news to the rest of the men and a cheer went up.  Brian followed Zakorski, Marius and the Corporal to the radio room and Zakorski picked up the headset.  “This is Captain Zakorski at NORAD, who am I receiving, over?”

The Corporal turned a dial so the rest of them could hear the reply. 

“This is Captain Adams of the Seawolf-class submarine USS Jimmy Carter, good afternoon NORAD.  Glad that you guys are still with us.  We’re moored one nautical mile off the San Francisco coast.”

Brian couldn’t believe that they had travelled across half of America and now the sub had arrived at nearly the exact point from which they had left.

“We have on board Admiral Thompson of the New Zealand Navy, we have been sweeping the coast for survivors, over.”

“Did you find any survivors, over?” asked Zakorski.

“We found plenty, just none that I would want to risk taking aboard this boat ma’am.  You’re the first sane person we’ve spoken to since we arrived two days ago, over.”

“Everywhere our scouts have been it’s the same.  But New Zealand, Australia, they’re unaffected, over?” said Zakorski.

The radio crackled, “New Zealand is unaffected, so is southern Australia, but it seems like the north of the country is down.  Both countries had some electrical damage.  They have their own problems to deal with.  How many of you are there? Over.”

“Two-hundred and sixteen military personal and two civilians,” she looked at Marius and Brian, “scientists, over.”

“Are you secure, can you last a few more weeks, over?”

 “Yes, for now, we are secure and have provisions to last us at least six months, over.”

“Ma’am, we can take fifty of you with us now back to Devonport Naval Base, in Auckland New Zealand.  That is our temporary base of operation, we rendezvoused with the USS Los Angeles in the mid-Pacific, she’s on her way there now.  Once we have dropped off the first fifty we will be able to return a month later, when we have re-supplied, for another fifty.  We’ll continue that way until you’re all safe with the Kiwi’s, sorry Admiral, New Zealanders, over.”

“That sounds like a plan, we’ll,” but before Zakorski could finish her sentence the General entered the room and grabbed the microphone.

“This is General Higgs of the U.S. Army, who am I speaking with, over?”

“Captain Adams of the USS Jimmy Carter, General, Sir, over.”

“
Captain
Adams,” the General smiled, “I believe that according to rank that makes me the commander here, unless you’ve got a US Navy Admiral onboard too.”

“Yes, Sir.  I mean no, Sir, we don’t have a US Navy Admiral with us. Over,” said the Captain.

“And back in this Devonport Naval Base, do you have anyone there above your rank Captain Adams?”

“No Sir, the highest rank is Captain, Sir. Over.”

“How many sailors do you have aboard that boat Captain?”

“One hundred and forty-eight, including myself, Sir. Over.”

“Well Captain, we could do with a few more hands around here, I suggest you take that boat up through Lake Michigan, moor up and make your way to Cheyenne, this country won’t fix itself.”

“But Sir, I was just telling your Captain that we are ready to evacuate you and your men to safety, it might take some time but…”

“Now you listen to me Captain, when you are a US marine fighting for your country on home turf, you don’t retreat and you don’t get rescued.  We might be all that’s left of this great nation and if we are, I’m not about to hand it over to a bunch of crazies and savages.  You are to park that sub and report to me.  There’s work to be done Captain.”

There was a long pause, as if a discussion was taking place on the other end of the radio.

“Sir I have conferred with Admiral Thompson of the New Zealand Navy, he is in agreement that this is a rescue mission and should remain so.  Under Navy regulation four-fifteen, in times of war, should the chain of command be broken, a Captain has full-jurisdiction of his ship.” 

“Don’t quote that Navy bull-shit at me, Captain, I am the chain of command and you are speaking to me right now.  If you disobey this direct order I will have you shot for desertion. Do I make myself clear Captain? Over.”

“So be it,” said the Captain. “We will continue our sweep of the Pacific Coast for two days and after that remain within sight of the Golden Gate Bridge for a further five days, if anyone should wish to return with us.  Good day General.”

The radio clicked off, and the General shook the microphone. “Captain? Captain!” He looked at Brian, Marius, Zakorski and the radio operator, his face red. “Nobody mentions this to anybody, if you are asked you are to say the sub has gone to look for more survivors in Washington, via the Cape of Good Hope and will continue from there on to Europe.” He looked specifically at the radio operator. “If anyone tries to make contact with that boat again, you will report it to me immediately, is that clear?” As the General left the room with his aide he shook his head and cursed under his breath.  “God damn navy faggot cowards”.

Brian couldn’t believe it. “Did I just hear that correctly? Someone offered to rescue us and take us to the last bastion of civilisation on the planet, and the General said no?”

Zakorski gave him a look and tilted her eyes at the radio operator, who was sitting with his back to her. “I think the General has a point Brian, America won’t rebuild itself, we’ve got to start somewhere, so why not here? Let’s get some coffee, there’s work to be done.”

They left the radio room and when they were sure they were alone Zakorski spoke. “That sub is our only hope; it’s that or we go hole up in the mountains and hope that neither the General nor anyone else finds us.”

“Well as much as I like your fine company Zakorski, being stuck in a cabin in the woods with you and Brian for eternity sounds worse than having your brain wiped.  My vote is with the sub, is there anyone else in here we can trust?”

“I’m not sure and I’m not sure if we should risk it either; patriotic loyalty is a funny thing, I never could quite understand it.”

Marius smiled. “Hey you were the one who joined the military.”

“Well how are we going to get out of here?” said Brian, “With the doors closed this place is like Fort Knox, we’ll never get past the guards.”

“The General will double the guards now he knows about this, but there are several ways out of here. The problem is, if we leave without a vehicle, we’ll never make it; you said all the cars outside were fried right?”

Brian thought hard.  He’d seen the heavy main door next to the vehicle bay; it closed quickly but took two minutes to open, complete with warning sirens to ensure nobody was caught behind it.  The vehicle bay was swarming with personnel, the only way they could get out was by faking some errand that required them to leave the base, though he thought the General would see through that in a second.

“There’s always the bike.” Marius still had his annoying habit of reading his thoughts and being one step ahead.

“You think you could get three on that thing?” said Zakorski.

“Sure, we might have to stop at a couple of repair shops on the way but if we’re lucky she might make it.  Will we be able to get it out one of the back doors?” 

“Yes,” said Zakorski, “There’s a tunnel that leads all the way through the mountain and comes out near to town, if we go at night we should make it out of the populated areas by morning.  We would still need to get past the guards, even going that way.”