The Resistance: Book 5 of the After The Event Series (11 page)

              Before Ben could say something he heard the sound of screeching tires in the distance and saw Ghost sprinting at full speed down the street toward them. A Chinese Humvee was gaining behind him.  Ben, Crimson and Ty took up position behind the still-smoldering wreckage of the Humvee and tried to find a clear shot. As the Humvee got closer to Ghost a soldier hung out of the passenger window with his gun in hand. Ben opened fire and Crimson and Ty soon followed. A few shots hit the hood and sides of the Humvee but the soldier remained unscathed. The soldier pointed his rifle and fired. Ghost went down.

              “No!” Ben screamed as he stood up and began walking toward the approaching Humvee.

              The soldier hanging from the side fired at him and the bullets hit the pavement near him, shooting sparks into the air. Ben stopped where he was and let out several more bursts, one of which hit the middle of the windshield. As the Humvee got within fifty yards Ben took a deep breath and waited for the impact and the pain that would follow. He focused to make sure he would at least take the soldier down with him. A burst of fire from the parking garage hit the driver side of the Humvee, sending it veering to the left and straight into the front of the bank they had been hiding behind only minutes earlier. Ben pushed aside the fear and turned toward the crashed Humvee. He raised his rifle and slowly began to approach it. Crimson came up on his right, Ty on his left.

              The Humvee continued to rumble for a few more seconds and then shut off suddenly, leaving them in total silence. The front end of the Humvee was partially in the brick building. Ben paused as he saw that the solider that had been hanging out of the window didn’t make it all the way through the brick building, not all of him at least. Ben circled around to the side and saw the driver grabbing at the steering wheel and trying to pull himself up. Ben didn’t hesitate. He let out a burst into the man’s chest and ended his life.

              “Ty, cover the street. I’m going to get Ghost,” Crimson said as she took off toward the downed man.

              Ty’s head swiveled from one side of the street to the other. Ben pointed toward one end and Ty focused on it. Ben focused on the other side. The firefight had gone on too long. Company would be coming any second. Ben glanced up at the sky but didn’t see anything. He ignored the fact that he would hear it before he saw it.

              “Ben, I need help,” Crimson yelled.

              Ben ran toward her but he could tell by her body language before he even got there. Ghost was gone. The man was on his back, his shirt red with blood, and his eyes stared up peacefully at the sky.

              “Coming up on your right,” came a voice from the direction of the parking garage. Four soldiers came running up to them. Dirt and debris covered their face and clothes but they seemed unharmed. “We got to move befor-” the soldier in the lead stopped when he saw Ghost.

              “Ben, help me get him out of here,” Crimson said as she took one side of Ghost. Ben took the other.

              Ghost had walked to the battle but they carried him back from it. As they approached where Reaper and the others had been they saw the man standing there watching. His face was a mask of pure anger, but he didn’t say anything. Instead he turned and they followed him deeper into the residential jungle. As the sounds of vehicles and another helicopter filled the air they ducked into a partially opened garage. Ben and Crimson laid Ghost down on the ground and before Ben could stand up all the way, Reaper grabbed him and slammed him against the far wall.

              “His death is on your hands,” the man screamed, spittle flying onto Ben’s face. “His kid doesn’t have a dad because of you.”

              Ghost was an intimidating soldier who made you earn a smile and always seemed ready to take on the world if necessary; the realization that he was someone’s dad hit Ben hard.

              “You grab your gun and get the hell out of my squad,” Reaper said.

              “Ghost died doing what he trained for, what we all joined for,” Crimson said. “His choice was his own.”

              Reaper let go of Ben and turned on Crimson. “He was a soldier and a soldier follows orders.”

              “He did follow orders,” Crimson said calmly. “Just not yours.”

              “I’m the one in charge,” Reaper yelled. “My orders are the only ones that matter.”

              “I don’t want to get in the middle of anything,” one of the rescued soldiers said, stepping forward, “but they saved our asses. We were pinned down and didn’t have a chance.”

              “Stay out of this,” Reaper said, not taking his eyes off Crimson.

              The woman didn’t waver and even took a step forward. “I know why I’m here. I’m here to kill Chinese. Why are you here?”

              Dex stepped in between them. “What’s done is done. We have a mission and if we are going to accomplish it we need to get out of this sector ASAP.”

              “I have a son,” one of the soldiers said.

              “I have a daughter in Boston,” another chimed in.

              Another of the soldiers stepped up, his face covered in dried blood. “We all have families; that’s why we do what we do.”

              Reaper’s hand floated above his sidearm for a few more seconds then fell away. “Gather up, we’re out of here in three.” Reaper turned and walked away.

              Ben stood there and took in a deep breath to calm his shaking hands. They had done the right thing, he told himself. As everyone gathered up their things each of the soldiers that they had rescued walked past and shook his hand and told him thanks. As he let go of the last soldier’s hand he caught Reaper watching him. The man’s face was tight and his eyes burned through him. Reaper turned and walked out of the garage.

Alec

              Life was hard, but for the first time in a long while Alec didn’t feel alone.

              Two of the newest members, Jon and a middle-aged man without a single hair on his head named Steffen, helped bring new life to Yankee camp. That and the recent victory that had filled their bellies with bread and an extra bowl of porridge had brought the once-splintered camp together. They still spent the majority of their days cutting wood but now, from time to time, the air was filled with the sound of conversations. As long as they weren’t too loud the soldiers didn’t seem to mind. They had started to suffer together instead of suffering alone.

              “I’m just saying, and no offense, but I’m just saying there is no way in hell I’m going to eat a mouse or a rat,” Jon said with a crinkled nose, as if he was smelling something rotten.

              Alec smiled and shook his head. “Yeah, I pretty much said the same thing once.”

              “Well…I’m a man of conviction. When I say I won’t do something, I won’t.”

              “I’ll be sure to remind you of that the first time you come to breakfast in the morning with a mouse’s tail stuck between your teeth,” Alec said with a raised eyebrow.

              Jon looked like he was about to be sick and Alec just laughed. “You’re a sick fuck, Alec.”

              They finished loading the wood just as the sun kissed the horizon and then they made their trek back toward the middle of camp. They all grabbed their bowl of porridge and sat at the tables eating it as slowly as they could, as if that would somehow increase the size of their portion. As everyone began to finish, Xu strolled into the middle of the camp and the air turned cold. Xu walked over to one of the tables and sat down on top of it and just watched them. Each of them made sure to keep their heads down and not look the man in the eyes. After a few moments the man finally spoke up.

              “I miss movies,” Xu said to no one in particular. “You all are boring, everything here is boring.” A few of the soldiers exchanged side glances but didn’t say anything. Xu let out a sigh and stood up. “Time for some real entertainment.”

              Xu walked to the table where Alec, Steffen and Jon were sitting and he pointed at Steffen. One of the soldiers came over and grabbed Steffen under his arms and pulled him from his chair. Xu continued walking and made his way over to Rambo Camp’s side, where he pointed at another prisoner and a soldier did the same. Xu yelled something in Chinese and Alec noticed the soldiers hesitate for just a brief second before they lined up and formed a large circle off to the side.  They placed Steffen and the other man in the middle of the circle and walked away. The two men just stood there, confused.

              “Winner team gets second helping,” Xu said as he sat down in a nearby chair. The man’s eyes gleamed and a smile formed on his face. “Fight.”

              Steffen stood there for a moment, staring at Xu as if he didn’t understand what he had been ordered to do. The man from Rambo Camp was scrawny, covered in dirt and wearing nothing more than tattered clothing but he understood what he was being told. Alec watched the man stare at Steffen for a few moments and then he made his decision.

              As Steffen began to turn back around the man rushed him. The man’s shoulder slammed into Steffen’s chest and both men went down with a hard thud. Steffen cried out and tried to roll away but the man straddled him and began to rain down blows. Steffen didn’t know how to defend himself. His arms stretched outwards as if he was trying to grab an invisible man, and all the while the scrawny man’s fists connected. Chest, head, face, shoulder. All the while the only thing that Steffen got in was a couple of inadvertent slaps.

              Alec looked to Xu, who was beaming from ear to ear. He gestured a few times toward the fight when he noticed a soldier staring at him, and the soldier quickly nodded and turned back toward the action.

              A loud thwack echoed through the area as the scrawny man’s fist connected squarely with Steffen’s face and Steffen’s arms dropped and he let out a low moan.  The scrawny man stopped and leaned back, still on top, his ragged breaths shaking his entire body.

              Xu’s smile disappeared. “Continue.”

              The scrawny man looked confused and looked back down to the injured man, who was just lying there, dazed. 

              “Continue,” Xu growled.

              The scrawny man threw a punch and it connected with Steffen’s face. The sound of his fist striking the downed man’s head rang out. He threw another punch, connecting again. Steffen didn’t try to block anything; he just moaned again. The scrawny man stopped and started to get up.

              “Continue,” Xu said again slowly.

              “He…I won,” the scrawny man said, out of breath.

              “He is still alive.”

              The scrawny man’s face dropped and Alec looked to Jon and the others. Disbelief filled their faces. Across the way Walt stood up but didn’t say anything. The scrawny man looked to Walt and the faces of the others. No one was brave enough to object.

              He slammed down his fist again on the man’s face and this time there was a loud crack and blood began to pour from Steffen’s nose. The scrawny man hesitated for a second then struck him again, and again. After the third time he stopped and tears were running down his face and he looked to Xu.

              “I…can’t, please don’t make me do this,” he pleaded.

              Any evidence that Xu had once been smiling had been permanently erased. The only thing that was evident now was pure rage. The man stood up and screamed something at the scrawny man in Chinese. “You continue until I say stop,” he corrected himself.

              A sob wracked the scrawny man’s body. “No, I won’t kill him. He’s down, I won.”

              Xu let out a scream of rage and pushed his way through the circle to get to the man. He kicked the man in the face, sending him reeling onto his back.

              “No, don’t,” the scrawny man screamed. Those were his last words.

              Xu stood over the man, at first kicking, then he began to slam his foot down onto him. When his legs tired he dropped down on top of him and began to punch him. Most of the prisoners turned away. The sounds of cracking bones and the sight of blood flying through the air caused most of the soldiers to turn away. But no one tried to stop him. When Xu stopped and walked away he screamed out that no one was going to get extra rations. The body he left behind was unrecognizable. The scrawny man’s head had been caved in.

              Alec and the rest of Yankee Camp picked up Steffen and brought him into his cell. Before they were closed up for the night they did their best to clean his cuts and lay him up so if he puked he wouldn’t choke to death since he was alone in his cage. Then the soldiers came in and forced everyone into their own cells. Alec listened to the man’s whimpers throughout the night and took comfort in them, knowing he was still alive.

Ben

              The swing sets and playground equipment sat alone in the overgrown lot, most of it rusted out and cracked, relics of a time long passed. They sat under the trees, using them and the night as cover from the enemy. The cool breeze felt good on their skin and the moon provided just enough light for them to see their general surroundings. They had been on the run since the rescue and this was the first real time they had to sit back and relax. The new soldiers sat atop a rusted-out roundabout. The red paint was mostly chipped away, revealing a rusted-out frame underneath.

              “We share the same mission?” Reaper asked.

              One of the soldiers, Vick, nodded. His face was still bruised and he had a large gash across this left cheek that ran back to his jaw-line. “Yes sir. They tried to airdrop us on the western-most edge of Long Island.” The man shook his head. “The enemy has the entire East Coast covered. We came in with three helos and none survived.”

              “The EMP?” Reaper asked.

              “In a high school on the northeast side, Melville or something like that. It’s supposed to be strong enough to take out nearly everything on the East Coast.”

              “Who gave you orders?” Crimson asked, sitting down next to a faded blue slide.

              “Aaron Johnson, acting president of the United States,” Vick said.

              “Johnson?” Dex thought. “I don’t remember a Johnson.”

              “Former Secretary of Homeland Security,” one of the other soldiers answered.

              “Damn,” Dex said.

              Ben waited for more but nothing came. “What does that mean?”

              Dex ran his hand through his hair. “Homeland Security is at the very bottom of presidential succession. That means we’ve gone through, what, twelve thirteen different positions that are ahead of him to take over the presidency?”

              “Seventeenth in line,” Crimson said, laying back against the bottom of the slide.

              “So the others are dead?” Ty asked.

              “Dead or lost,” Dex said.

              Vick cleared his throat. “Our communication system is pretty damaged. We don’t have any reliable communication with the west coast or down south in Texas. It’s possible that there is some semblance of government there, we just can’t confirm.”

              “So what if there is?” Ben asked. “What if the Vice President or someone above the Secretary of Homeland Security is still alive over there?”

              “Then they would technically be in charge,” Dex said. “Doesn’t really matter right now, though.”

              “So you know how to detonate the EMP?” Reaper asked, shooting Ben a look.

              “Yes sir. Just have to get to it. Last intel was that most of the enemy’s drones are toward Queens and Manhattan but who knows how many they have. Their patrols are relatively sparse, as we haven’t had much resistance this close to their HQ.”

              “Of course, that was before our recent skirmish,” Crimson added.

              Vick nodded. “Good point. We should expect an increase due to that.”

              “So were you planning on hoofing it?” Ben asked.

              “The plan had been to steal a Humvee,” Vick said.

              “What about the checkpoints?” Dex asked.

              “There aren’t any in this area toward the school. We grab a Humvee and we can be in the school in no time,” Vick said with a smile.

              “All right,” Reaper said, standing up and stretching. “Get some sleep; we have our plans for tomorrow.”

              As everyone dispersed Ben walked over to a faded-out gazebo and sat on the steps leading up to it. He stared down at the cracked concrete steps and watched as a line of ants made their way across. The plan sounded like it could work. They set off the EMP and render the Chinese drones, helicopters and communications useless.

              Ty walked over and sat down beside him. “You don’t mind, right?”

              Ben smiled, “’Course not.”

              Ty pulled out his knife and ran the blade across the cracks in the concrete. “This could end up being a pretty big deal, B. If we do this and take out all their shit on the east coast? We could end up being just like those famous military people in the Civil and Revolutionary War they’re always teaching in schools.”

              “Name one,” Ben asked.

              “One what?”

              “One of those famous people.”

              Ty frowned. “Damn, B. I don’t know. One of those famous dudes they were always testing us on.”

              Ben laughed. “No one will know our names. Even if they did, no one will remember them. It’s not about that.”

              “I know, I’m just saying.” Ty put his knife back up and leaned back. “When I was little and sleeping in the streets I never thought I’d end up doing anything right, let alone anything big.”

              Ben thought back to his days running through the woods and playing pretend. He was always the hero, the savior. He had always imagined being in a situation like this, but now that he actually was it wasn’t the same. In his pretend world he never imagined how it would feel to sleep on the cold, hard ground, or to go to bed hungry. He didn’t imagine how entire days would be filled with fear that something from the sky would take him out in an instant. He didn’t imagine what it would feel like losing friends and family.

              Vick and another soldier walked over to them and stopped.

              “The name is Chavez,” said the soldier next to Vick.

              Ben shook his hand. “Hey Chavez.”

              “We just wanted to thank you again,” Vick said quietly. “Don’t think for a second what you all did wasn’t the right thing.”

              “Thanks.”

              “War changes people, some for the good and some for the bad. The difference between those two is making the hard choices. You could have left us to fend for our own and Ghost would have been alive but you would have carried that choice with you for the rest of your life. It would have been a weight constantly weighing you down. You made the hard choice.”             

              Ghost’s face flashed before Ben’s eyes. Would he go the rest of his life knowing his choice had cost the man his life?

              “We have to choose which path we go down in life. Each and every one of us. It’s easy to say you were just following orders,” Chavez said. “Still doesn’t excuse what we did or didn’t do. So thanks for making the hard choice.”

              Vick nodded to him again and they walked away. Ty nudged Ben with his elbow.

              “Told you, you was Rambo.”

              Ben didn’t answer.

              “Seriously, B. You a good person.”

              “So are you,” Ben said.

              Ty sat back. “Naw, I’m just doing what’s best for me.”

              “Which just so happens to be what’s best for everyone else.”

              Ty was silent for a moment and Ben noticed his eyes glisten. “All right, enough of this shit.” Ty stood up. “You get some rest.” And just like that, he walked away.

              Ben smiled. Whatever happened tomorrow would happen. He knew they were doing the right thing.