Published: 13 Jan 2017

Starts Afternoon of Day +17

As the afternoon wore on toward evening, Hunter found it hard not to start pacing. It had been almost three weeks with him eating, drinking, sleeping, and fighting next to all the others from his patrol. Not having them around was rather nerve rattling. Well, he corrected himself, Luke was still around. But the closeness he shared with the others didn’t really compare, at least not yet. He hoped it soon would. But the truth of the matter was, Luke was now kind of an outsider. He had not been there when Mr. Korbal had been hurt. He had not been part of the initial panic. Nor had Luke been part of the intensive training Mr. Korbal had put everyone else through. Still, he was a near life-long friend, and Hunter was sure he would fully become part of the patrol again over time.

Now, however, Luke was showing what being alone for so long had done to him. The boy wanted, needed, to be around adults. Instead of sticking around to chat with Hunter over pizza, Luke had offered to help in the clean up, leaving Hunter alone. With a sigh, Hunter pushed the plate back from where he sat. The small personal pizza the National Guardsman cooked for him had tasted awesome. Even better, the man said he would make a trio of large pizzas for all the scouts when they got back and as long as the wind kept up. He even said he would hook-up a still-working TV and a DVD player along with some movies so they could all have a enjoyable evening. To Hunter, a pizza and movie party sounded like a whole lot of fun. The only problem was, there had been no word from either group as best as Hunter could tell.

To pass the time, Hunter pulled out his journal. For several seconds he looked at the pen before picking it up.

Day of N +17:

Today has been really crazy. It started out with me not even rolling out of bed until I’d slept for over a full day! When I did I found out some of the others were already out with the armyguys. On the other hand, the armyguys here, in Hill City, are totally opposite of those we first ran across. Not only are they nice, they actually care. We have all been checked by a doctor and dentist. My teeth got a full good cleaning and I even got a filling put in. So did Angus. The dentist said we didn’t have to have it done, but recommended it since the spots in question were iffy and finding a dentist to work on it should it go bad would be iffy at best.

From what I heard, the Dentist wanted to drill a bad spot on Devin’s tooth, too, but Devin was having none of it. Not even the National Guard guys could convince him, so if he ends up with a tooth ache at some point I’m not sure I will feel real sorry for him. Some of the others are really starting to wonder if Devin should be part of our group, as well. I really don’t like it when the others, especially Vernon and Angus, openly wonder if he should not stay behind while we go on. I still think he has abilities we don’t, like talking to people and trading. He is so good in this bartering stuff, I think it would be stupid to not keep him with us as we get further away from where we have some knowledge of.

Even as I write about this, I am feeling a little scummy. It is not the Christian thing to do to talk about others, but since I am writing this, I really think it is important for anyone who finds it to know as much as possible. However, all I have to do is look at what Devin managed to get back in Jennings to see he can do stuff better than the rest of us. Besides, not everyone can be good with a gun, can they? The only thing I think I should add is this: If Devin doesn’t want to come with us, Hill City is probably as good of a place as he’ll find to see how things turn out.

To this end, I think I need to go over what I do know at this point. I know I have touched on a few things, but I was still tired when I wrote the last entry and I now have a much better feel for this place. Hill City has power from wind generators most of the time, and they are hoping to go get a few more for at least two more for active power and the rest for spare parts. There is a wind farm not too far away and there were some trucks with wind-power windmills on them real close when the world blew up so there is a way to get more. I also know they have been in contact with Jennings and there is some talk about getting a few more of the windmills from the wind farm so Jennings can get regular power too. I hope it happens.

The next thing I figure I better talk about centers around Zeki. As soon as the National Guard leader, Lieutenant Grader, found out from Jennings Zeki really could drive a train and knew all about them, he sent out some scouts to check tracks close to Hill City. Unfortunately, Hill City is not along any tracks, but twenty miles south, the town of WaKeeney does have some. Also the highway between Hill City and WaKeeney is in OK shape and is not badly flooded over in any spots between here and there. The bridge over the river just south of Hill City is the only bad spot, but so far it is holding and the people from the gravel yard here have done some work on it to keep water from doing too much damage to it.

From the way it sounds though, WaKeeney is in super bad shape. I am not sure exactly what they mean when they say it is in bad shape, but the important thing is Lt. Grader’s people found a train to the west of it. From what I understand, someone had already gotten to the train and took some stuff, but there was still a lot on it. Before I even woke up, a few of the Guardsmen took Zeki and Devin back down to it, to see if they could get it to WaKeeney. If they can, then they can bring much of it up to Hill City by way of the road. They have been gone for almost eight hours now, so I hope they will be back soon.

On a better note, one of the Sergeants all but said the Guardsmen with Zeki and Devin were planning on working with them on shooting and stuff more too, so hopefully both will come back with more skill. I’m not real sure Zeki needs the work, though, since Gage has really started to like him and work with him. I really think Gage secretly wants to learn how to drive a train, but I’m just guessing. One way or the other, Gage has Zeki shooting way better real fast, so the real problem remains Devin. It is like he is afraid of the guns or something. I don’t get it, because he did go hunting with us over the winter, so he got all the classes we did before this even happened. Besides, I am way more scared of getting shot at without being able to shoot back good. Knowing I can shoot back, even though I REALLY don’t want to kill people, makes me feel safer in this totally crazy world.

Before I go off on some crazy digression, I better tell you about the others. One thing we didn’t think about was a nearby scout camp just south of Kirwin. As good or bad luck has it, the bombs fell during the opening weekend of the first camp session. I bet there were hundreds of scouts up there. Lt. Grader’s radio Sergeant, Master Sergeant Keating, heard from the town near the camp. While the person talking about the camp didn’t know exactly what was going on, it was clear at least part of it was flooded and there were red cloths on a flag pole or something. The Lieutenant took Angus and Ramsey up there to see if they could help.

Something bad must have really happened up there because they asked for more help, but wanted to leave some of the Guardsman here. I was asked who should go. I wanted to, but since I was so late in waking up, I had not been seen by the doctor or dentist yet. It was hard to not pick myself, but I told them Vernon and Gage should go. As far as I know we have not heard back from them since Gage and Vern left, which was over four hours ago. I am really worried about them too. Part of me thinks Mr. K. would be angry with us going all different directions, but I think we are doing the most good this way. God would expect us to help as many as we can and I think doing this is the best way to do so. Once everyone is back, I think I’ll have a patrol meeting to talk over splitting up like this again should we need to do so. I also think it may give Devin a chance to say what he really wants to do without him feeling like he needs to stay with us. I know I want him to stay as part of the group, but I don’t want to make him feel like he has to.

I actually think Master Sergeant Keating has been in radio contact with both groups, but he has not told me anything. As a matter of fact, he told me he had some news for me, but I interrupted him so he told me I would have to wait. I am probably being silly, but the guy is HUGE, so I am afraid to go ask him now. Maybe after I get done with this I will try to be real nice and see if he will tell me what he found out. I hope it is about my parents, even if it is bad news, but think he said it wasn’t about me. Ah, gee I am starting to ramble. Sorry.

I better get back on track instead of guessing or hoping. So I think I will tell you a bit about what I know about Hill City. First off, as I noted, it has some power. Also it seems quite a bit of the electronics survived. They even found an old computer with USB port so Luke can recharge his MP3 player. I guess the EMPs didn’t hit here as hard. The Mayor, with the help of the Guardsmen, have good control too. The whole place, at least what I have seen of it, is really working together. The south side has some flooding, but the rest of the place is pretty much intact. For some reason, the earthquakes didn’t seem to do as much damage here either. There are only a few damaged buildings. The ones that were hit the hardest were taken down and what was left has been used to fix or strengthen other buildings. There are a few laws that seem kind of weird, like no one other than the Guardsman can drive anything unless it is OK’ed by the mayor. People with generators can’t use them either. I think it is all about saving every drop of gas.

Guns are a big deal too. Hill City is allowing adults to carry guns, but use of guns inside town limits are against the law unless the town is being attacked. From what I overheard from some of the women who washed our stuff and cooked for us last night, it sounds like before the Guardsman showed up, the town drove off one small attack from a few bikers or something. Once they noticed some of us were trying to listen, they stopped talking about it, like they thought it would scare us or something. How silly. They already knew we had a shootout when we helped Mr. Meeker and we saw all the nastiness at the plane crash. Hearing about a few dumb bikers getting shot for being bad and stupid is pretty far down on the list of stuff any of us are scared about at this point. Heck, I don’t even think Devin would do more than shrug about a few badguys getting shot.

But, back to the gun situation here. Hill City didn’t want any of us to carry guns, but the Guardsman and Mr. Meeker talked them into letting us carry pistols and long arms, but not military rifles. I am not sure how it was all worked out, but they somehow came to an agreement about us being able to carry guns as long as we tested out with them. My test was hard, super hard. I had to shoot at targets of badguys and even one with a hostage. It was all done as total surprise, too, so the test started out of nowhere. Then I had to shoot at thrown clay targets. The second part was pretty easy. I hunt pheasant, after all. So anyway, I did real good. So did Gage. (Big surprise, huh? I swear, he had to have been born with bullets on the brain and a gun in his hand) As it ended up, everyone else at least passed enough to carry a gun. From the way it sounds, though, they probably fudged on Devin, who they are only letting carry a .22. Zeki didn’t do great, either, but he got to keep his .410 shotgun and .243 rifle Gage taught him how to shoot, but he can only carry one in town. I bet he takes the .410, but I don’t know for sure since he left before I woke up. All the rest of us can carry a pistol and a rifle.

Once I got done testing and was told I can carry a rifle and a pistol, they showed me how to melt lead and do reloads. I will never be as fast at it as the Guardsmen are, but at least I know how. I also want to make sure they show Gage how. The more of us who know the better and he already mentioned he wanted to learn at some point. I don’t remember when, though.

The funny thing about the shooting and gun testing is, I was actually told I could carry the army rifle and the Guardsman would just tell the mayor to deal with it. It is nice I did so good, but I don’t want to make anyone in town nervous and I would feel bad since only Gage and I can carry one in Hill City. I was told it would probably be better if we didn’t, but they would make sure no one would stop us. The problem is, Hill City has lots of kids and most of the kids here don’t have any guns on them, so an army rifle really would stick out if I carried one. I bet Gage carries his, though. I will try to talk him… Sorry, got to go. Sounds like trouble! The Master Sergeant just yelled for me and Luke!

Hunter didn’t care about the last couple of sentences looking sloppy. Part of him actually felt guilty about finishing up even as MSgt. Keating called for him a second time, but the journal was important to him and he wanted to do a good job with it. However, a second shout for Luke was all it took for Hunter to quickly close the journal and shove it into his pack. He shoved the pen into his scout shirt breast pocket, even as he moved over and grabbed his assault rifle. The tone of MSgt. Keating’s voice sounded way too serious to not grab his firearms, all of them. Still, Hunter didn’t go running. Instead, he did a double-check of his gear, and pulled his pack over his shoulder before heading out the side door.

By the time he got out to the parking lot, he heard MSgt. Keating telling Luke to go back in and gear up and something about big trouble. Before he even made eye contact, one of the Bradley fighting vehicles pulled up alongside the man and he jumped in.

Before MSgt. Keating slammed the door, he spotted Hunter and shouted, “Wait for your buddy and get with Sergeant Jimenez! He’ll tell you what is going on and what he wants and expects out of the two of you! You are backup, not front liners, so keep your heads down out there!”

Hunter didn’t get a chance to do more than nod before the Bradley spun hard on the gravel and headed east. A few seconds later, as Luke came back out with his pack and weapons, the second Bradley pulled out of the firehouse and also turned to head down Main Street to the east. Before the second vehicle even hit the pavement, the warning sirens went off telling people to seek shelter.

Both Hunter and Luke’s heads turned to look at the nearest siren, but they didn’t have more than a pair of seconds to dwell on what to do. Instead, a Humvee came around the backside of the firehouse. Sgt. Jimenez slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop next to the two boys, “Get in!” Seeing a momentary hesitation from the two boys his voice became deeper and way more commanding, “Move it you two!”

The voice alone compelled both boys to follow the command. Before they even realized what they were doing, Hunter pulled open the back door for Luke who all but jumped in. He then followed suit. The door was not even closed before the Humvee accelerated, jostling both boys as they tried to get properly seated with their firearms.

Hunter was first to be able to speak, “What’s going on?”

“Major problem with the group coming back from the train. They reported several vehicles coming from the east, plus they have a few that set up a roadblock to prevent them from getting the supplies here. Sergeant Keating is going to try to hit them from behind with the Bradleys and force them to back off. If they don’t, he’ll punch a hole through the existing roadblock so the trucks can get through, but we will need to slam the door by blocking off the road once our vehicles are past us! The plan is to have the Stryker pull up the rear and use its main gun to support us.”

Before more could be said, a Kansas State Trooper patrol car shot out from between two buildings with sirens blaring. It rapidly pulled up alongside the Humvee on the left with four men in it, including a man in a Kansas State Patrol Uniform. At the same time, a Chevy Blazer turned from a side street at a high rate of speed and up and took position on the right. Hunter looked out the window to see Mr. Meeker driving, while four others held on for dear life, one in the front, three in the back. Even though the windows of the Blazer were filthy, Hunter could make out long arms being held by everyone but Mr. Meeker.

Sgt. Jimenez quickly glanced back at the two wide eyed kids before focusing back on the road in front of him. He spoke loudly and quickly, “As soon as we all get close, we’ll move off to the side so the supply trucks can go past. I’ll then turn hard to the left to block most of the road. The squad car will block the far left and the Blazer the far right. Once we are all stopped, I want you to hop out the left hand side so you stay out of sight and can’t be targeted. I then want you both to get behind the cars. You are both backup, but you showed you know how to shoot, so Sergeant Keating wants you out here with us. Just do me a favor and stay down.”

Luke frowned, “But if we stay down…”

“Hush up and listen!” Sgt. Jimenez snarled while making a slashing motion with his left hand, cutting Luke off. His voice then lost some of its edge as he continued speaking. “Don’t get me wrong here, boys. I respect the hell out of what you’ve done and we heard more than enough to trust you. I just don’t want to see either of you getting hurt, none of us do. To this end, ready your rifles in case they try to come at us. Also, there is a whole lot of water off to the sides of the road, so stay on the road. If they are stupid enough to shoot at us, stay low and light ’em up. If not, let them turn and run. Understood?”

While Luke did nothing but nod, Hunter managed to speak, “OK, but are they shooting at Zeki and Devin? Cause if they are…” Hunter let his words drift off since there was little else to say about what he thought should happen if someone was shooting at his friends.

There was a slight, albeit noticeable, pause and cringe before Sgt. Jimenez spoke, “Um, no. Ah, they are still at with the train with Staff Sergeant Fox.”

Luke and Hunter exchanged glances as they both caught the uneasiness in Sgt. Jimenez’s voice and the delay as he searched for what words to say. However, there was nothing either could do about it, so they both pulled their gear around so they could get a little more comfortable, since they both had ended up sitting on part of their packs.

The speed they were going meant the first time Hunter was able to see Hill City in daylight hours was exceedingly brief. One thing, however, did catch his attention as the tires lightly squealed on the turn off Main St. and onto Fourth Ave. It was the three gas stations they passed all had sandbags stacked up around all the pumps, totally covering them. There were also sandbags around the fill-up points and the emergency shutoff valves. This seemed really odd to Hunter since none of the three stations were anywhere close to the flooding.

Even with the urgency of what was happening, Hunter looked through the back window at the closest gas station with a frown, “Why the sand bags around the gas pumps? The water isn’t even close to here…”

“Protection, Hunter.” Sgt. Jimenez responded even has he stepped harder on the accelerator. “It was actually MSgt. Keating’s idea to totally bag up the pumps and the control boxes. I guess he saw it in pictures from the Ukraine. After seeing a couple of stations in other towns during scouting, I am glad we did, too. One place we went, Logan, had a gas station, where the pumps were taken out when the rain roof over the pumps fell and then something ignited them. The whole place was gone and so were some close by cars around the buildings. Just think of how many gallons went up in smoke there.”

“One of my friends moved to Logan last year…” Hunter stated sadly, but quickly decided to stay on the topic at hand. “So are the tanks under the stations in Hill City pretty full?”

“Yeah, fortunately, they are very full.” Sgt. Jimenez nodded. “We managed to find a couple of tanker trucks when we scouted the area and found a third in Logan. We pulled two of them back here and drove the third, so the underground tanks are full at all three stations. We then siphoned all the gas we could out of the one remaining station in Logan, when we pulled the few who were left out and escorted them here. We also went to abandoned cars and put what we could pull out into the tankers. We are using that gas and diesel to keep our trucks full. Once they are empty, all we have left is what is in those stations. Those pumps are easy to damage. Storms, small arms fire, even sabotage are all threats and without fuel, there is no way to protect the town, or if something horrible happens, to have enough to pull everyone out and abandon it. So our first job, once we were accepted in Hill City, was to protect something we don’t want to use but must. Now get ready. The Bradleys just opened up a hole through the roadblock!”

While Sgt. Jimenez pulled over to the side of the road just after crossing the nearly flooded bridge just south of Hill City, Hunter and Luke looked out the front window from behind the back seat. Both cringed as they saw smoke up in front of them. While the Bradleys were blocking most of what was further down the road, they could see one pickup flipped on its side and burning while a small SUV had its back end totally smashed and was down in the ditch with its hood covered in water. While it was abundantly clear the makeshift blockade had failed, the fight was not over. The turret of the Bradley on the left side sent a burst of tracer rounds down a side road, which caused something to explode. At the same time, the other Bradley pushed an older model Lincoln Town Car off the road and into the water-filled ditch off on the right side of the highway. This left a wide path in the middle of the highway.

While the boys watched, two deuce and a half trucks, a semi, and the Stryker went past the Bradley fighting vehicles. They slowed so they could maneuver through the hole the Bradleys had made. Since the boys were less than three hundred feet away, they could see rubber flying off one of the back tires on the semi as it took a couple of bullets.

Sgt. Jimenez pointed to the side of the road opposite of the connecting dirt road where the Bradley had been firing. As he did so, a trio of bullets came from a barn window and hit the side of the semi cab, shattering the side window. Hunter looked over, only to see a badly weather and flood damaged group of farm buildings to the west.

Sgt. Jimenez’s voice took on the commanding tone again as he barked, “Boys, I have to block the road! Stop them for shooting out the tires of the truck before they cripple it!”

Hunter wasted no more time. He pushed the back door open, hopped out and went prone, pointing his assault rifle at the buildings. As soon as he spotted a flash, he fired a trio of shots at it.

Luke was much slower, but he also jumped and laid next to Hunter, “What are you shooting at?”

“Gun flashes!” Hunter shouted even as a couple more rounds struck the side of the semi. “Mr. K. taught us to look for gun flashes and aim right at them if we couldn’t see who was shooting at us. Just aim for the flashes!” Hunter then lined up and sent two more shots at the window where he saw muzzle flashes.

It took Luke a couple of seconds to understand what Hunter was saying, but once he did, he sent a rifle shot at a lower window. The results were obvious as a rifle fell out of the window.

Behind the two boys, the group of trucks continued to move. Once all the vehicles were through the choke point, the deuce and a half’s and the semi picked up speed and the Bradleys moved in behind them so the armor of the Bradleys could protect the other trucks from small arms fire. The Stryker, on the other hand, slowed and stopped as soon as it was past the Humvee, Blazer, and State Patrol car.

Sgt. Jimenez turned the wheel of the Humvee sharply to the left and stomped on the gas, cutting across the middle of the two-lane highway. As he did so, the patrol car moved to the left and the Blazer to the right. Both turned sideways as well, blocking off the whole road right at the bridge. This left anyone trying to pursue two bad choices. They could either try to go through the three cars and the armored Stryker right behind them. The other was to stop, which would leave them easy targets to the heavy gun on top of the Stryker.

Sgt. Jimenez made sure he was in a good blocking spot, then jumped up into the turret and spun the M60 machinegun in the direction of the buildings to the west. Seeing a bullet hit the ground between Hunter and Luke, then seeing both boys cringe, but continue to fire, he yelled out. “Boys, crawl back toward me!” He then shouted at the top of his lungs, “You assholes fire at my boys once more and I’ll rip the shit out of you!”

Another bullet hit splashed in the water in the ditch off the side of the road, only a couple of yards in front Hunter. Above and behind the boys, Sgt. Jimenez made a rage-filled, snarling sound before sending a fully automatic stream of fire into the building where most of the fire was coming from. At the same time, someone in the Stryker sent a burst of tracered automatic rounds into the windows of a pair of cars as they came off the dirt road trying to catch up to the rapidly fleeing cargo vehicles. The lead vehicle’s windshield shattered under the barrage, lost control, and slammed into a tree just off to the side of the road. The second vehicle didn’t take fire, but the driver panicked and went straight across the highway and into the water-filled ditch, rolling the El Camino, and in doing so, tossed the two men in the back into the water. The swiftly flowing water quickly dragged the two down toward the churning water of the south fork of the Solomon River. Neither stood a chance. Even as the two men shouted for help and attempted to swim in the strong current, sounds of two other cars could be heard as they slammed into each other, rather than enter the kill zone.

While all this was going on around them, Luke and Hunter cringed as they watched the barn-like building take massive fire. However, something caught Hunter’s eye. To this end, Hunter reached over and nudged Luke, before pointing to a smaller building where he could see a pair of muzzle flashes. It took Luke a few seconds, but once he realized what Hunter was looking at, he nodded understanding and pointed to himself and then up. Hunter nodded, then focused in on the lower window while Luke took the upper one. The two waited until they saw flashes again and both fired right at them. There was no return fire. A few seconds later all firing stopped and the only sounds of battle left was their ears ringing.

The only sign from the shot up farm buildings was a lone woman, who came out with her hands up, shaking like a leaf. Even though she was over seventy yards away, both Luke and Hunter could see her clothing was covered in blood. The way she moved told both of them it was not hers and the fact she was weeping made it easy to guess she knew whomever it did belong to.

The men from the Blazer and those who had been in the State Trooper’s cruiser fanned out and started checking things over.

After nearly two minutes Luke started to get up, only to get pushed back down by Mr. Meeker who had moved over to check on the pair. “Boy, you stay down until we have the area secure!”

As if on cue, a single shot echoed from the opposite side of the road. This was followed by a female voice, “You in the Sorento, try to pull up a rifle again and you’re dead! I only give one warning shot!”

Hunter rolled over and looked back at the Humvee. Seeing Sgt. Jimenez holding his shoulder, he pointed to get Mr. Meeker’s attention, “I think the sergeant got shot!”

Sgt. Jimenez waved off Mr. Meeker before the man could take more than two steps toward the Humvee. “The bastard nicked me, nothin’ more!” The sergeant then looked down at Hunter and Luke, “Nice work you two, but I’m supposed to take you to find your buddies. Problem is, until this gets stitched up, I’m out…”

Sergeant Haley Collins came into view with the State Trooper. She pushed a man in his early thirties down to his knees and motioned for Mr. Meeker to keep the man covered, even though the guy had a nasty cut across his nose, blood trickling down from a badly split lip, and had his hands cuffed behind his back. She hopped up onto the back of the Humvee to check on Jimenez. Seeing it was a deep grazing wound, she slapped a bandage over the injury. “I’ll take them. You get over to the Stryker, take a seat, and let Private Sheffield stand cover for the clean up here.”

She then looked over her shoulder, “Sheffield, grab me a new can of ammo for the sixty and help Sgt. Jimenez to get comfortable before you jump up on the Stryker and keep everyone covered.”

Hunter exchanged glances with Luke before speaking up with a great deal of fear and concern in his voice, “What do you mean, go find our buddies? Did you lose them?”

Sgt. Collins filled the ammo can attached to the M60 on top of the Humvee even as she spoke, “Well, not exactly… They kind of kept going once the kid with the accent got the train to WaKeeney.”

“What!? Why?!”

“Hop in.” She ordered, as she did a quick inspection of the Humvee. “I’ll explain on the way.”

Gage listened to the chatter back and forth between the National Guardsmen as he munched on a hot spam sandwich. Although Lt. Grader was clearly in charge, it was equally obvious he was at a loss about what to do about the stand-off at the scout camp. To this end he was asking for, in actuality demanding, others under him throw out options and ideas. After nearly twenty minutes of discussion and some flatly stupid ideas being tossed around, they were no closer to an answer.

It got to the point where the others with Gage had stopped listening. Ramsey and Angus moved away from the adults and started a card game of War. Vernon, who had spent a considerable amount of time on watch on top of the armored vehicle, dried off from a heavy, yet quick passing thunderstorm, and had fallen asleep in the front passenger seat.

Gage however continued to pay attention as Lt. Grader listened to Specialist Grimm, “Sir, I’m not agreeing with Private Weathers about assaulting the place and taking over like a bunch of goons, but we haven’t come close to checking the whole camp yet. We should at least take the FOX out to check the rest of the camp. Even if they have .22 rifles, or even a heavier firearm, they won’t be able to do more than chip the paint!”

Corporal Way disagreed as she shook her head, “We will still need someone on top to grab anyone we find stranded. Up to this point, most of those we grabbed were too weak to do much. I’m sure any others are in the same condition, so we can’t expect them to jump on and get in on their own. This means whoever is on top will be a sitting duck, as will whoever we are going after.”

“But most of them are kids and starving to death even as we sit here, eat, and talk about what to do!” Private First Class Hulbert argued with more than a little anger in his voice. “I got a brother and two sisters the ages of those we have rescued! I can’t sit here and do nothing while hoping someone else is doing something for my family back in Pratt!”

At this Lt. Grader held up his hand, “Private, I understand the emotion, but we are still a military unit and need to conduct ourselves as one. You will do as ordered, no matter what the decision is, understood?”

The twenty-two-year-old clenched both fists, but after a couple of seconds nodded, “I understand, sir, but if you are looking for a volunteer, I’ll ride up on top and help get as many as we can!”

Lt. Grader couldn’t help but notice Gage, as his face showed the hint of a smile, even as he gave a slight nod at PFC Hulbert’s words. To this end he turned his attention to the boy for a minute. “You have something to add, Gage?”

Astonished at the recognition being given him and the question, Gage’s head jerked to look at the lieutenant. At the same time, both Ramsey and Angus turned away from their card game. It was clear they were as surprised as Gage was, but they both focused on the newest member of their patrol to see what had caused the shift in conversation.

Lt. Grader ignored everyone else as he focused his total attention on Gage, which in turn caused the other Guardsmen to do the same thing. “We brought you up here to help. You and your friends have and to say we think highly of you all, is an understatement. Beyond what you have all done here, which is considerable, you all have done a great deal of good. Each of you have seen and done a great deal since the bombs fell, so if you want to join in this conversation, feel free.”

Gage’s whole body tightened up as he felt so many eyes on him, but he couldn’t let go of what he was thinking. To this end he gulped slightly and took a breath. He paused to see if anyone was going to stop him, almost hoping one of the adults would. When no one spoke, he closed his eyes to block out the fact so many were looking at him, then spoke up. “You want someone else on top to help, I’m in. The real thing is, I don’t get this whole thing! I think you are all being giant jackwads right now!”

At this, Private First Class Lopez’s eyes went a bit wide and her voice took on a bit of indignation as she fired back, “We are risking our asses out here kid!”

Before Lt. Grader or anyone else could smooth things over, Gage’s eyes snapped open and he turned to glare right at the woman, “Give me a break, lady,” Gage all but snarled, “you’re riding around in a tank! You ain’t risking shit! You haven’t been on top of the boat-tank either!” Gage turned and pointed at Angus, “He has and he jumped in to save someone! I didn’t see you up on top of this tank either. I was, Vernon was, and Ramsey was. All you have done is stand in the back of the covered truck and pull kids in. You didn’t even get wet today!”

The young woman’s face turned dark red, but before she could move, PFC Hulbert slid closer to Gage, making it abundantly clear the small boy was gong to be physically protected if needed.

Seeing this, Gage pressed the momentary advantage. “Get all pissed off if you want, but this is stupid! No one in their right mind is going to shoot at this thing! I don’t think even a total crazy dude would, especially with the big gun you have of the top of this rig! I just said I’ll get up on top of the boat-tank thing with him!” He pointed over to PFC Hulbert. He then glared back at the young woman, “You get to sit on your butt inside here or the truck and stay dry and safe!”

“Gage!” Angus spoke up with an angry undertone even as he stood, “Don’t you dare talk to an adult like that!”

“Why!” Gage roared right back, as he felt his anger boil over. As he lost self-control he let out more than he intended. “Beat my ass bloody if you want. It wouldn’t be even close to the first time! Just get it over with. You pummel me silly and I’ll still be in better shape than those clinging to trees and starving!”

Breathing hard and with clenched fists he glared at Angus, “Have you ever been so hungry you chewed on the skin on your fingertips or chewed on your toenails? I did once, and it bites!”

As everyone stared at the boy and the mask of rage on his face, Gage continued. “You know what we should do, if we really care, we should take over! Not like the red haired dude said, not like shooting the place up intil they all give up ‘er nothing! No! But we need to stop this right here, right now! We have the guns, we have tanks! We need to use them!”

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself but it didn’t work well at all. As he spoke his voice was filled with venomous hatred. “You asked what I’d do, well I’ll tell you! Once we get everyone out of trees and junk, I’d take the floating tank right over to the buildings and threaten the crap out of them! I’d make those who took over pee their pants as I pointed a grenade launcher in their faces! They do what we want, or we take everything they got and leave ’em in the damned water!”

He then spun back to Angus, “I’d do it cause, I bet getting the shit kicked out of me by you would be better than being in one of the buildings, being forced to do whatever those assholes who took over want! Hell, I’ve been there! I’ve been locked in a closet with no food and no bathroom for days until I folded like a card table and did what he wanted and it sucks in more ways than any of you can know!”

He paused only to find everyone looking at him. Some wore shocked expressions while others blinked in stunned silence and revulsion.

“Gage,” Ramsey spoke up softly, yet firmly after several seconds, “this isn’t about you and what I heard in your nightmares…”

Gage noticeably cringed and went pale as what he had shouted and what Ramsey had said registered. Still, he stood and made a sweeping motion with his arm at the inside of the heavily armored vehicle. “You mean you know?” When he spoke his voice had lost most of its edge and he sounded more like a scared little kid. “What’d I do, talk in my sleep more and you tell everyone?”

Angus spoke up even as he held up both hands, “Ram hasn’t said nothing, dude. Today is the first time we are hearing about this or your nightmares.”

Ramsey wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye, “Come on, Gage, you’re my friend. I didn’t say anything since the first night you stayed over and I woke you up trying to ask what you were dreaming about. You made it real clear you wanted it kept between us and left alone, so I didn’t even tell my folks, even though I tried to have you let me!”

Gage turned and punched the padded seat he had been sitting on several times, only stopping when PFC Hulbert put a firm hand on his shoulder and spoke, “Stop, little man. Just stop and tell all of us why you would do what you just said if you were the one in charge.”

Lt. Grader held up a hand to stop anyone else from speaking. “Gage, I could see it in your eyes just before you exploded on us. You had a plan or at least a decent thought, then you lost it as you screamed at us. It was something you needed to do, I understand at least that much. Now, this is not saying I get it. I can’t say I understand what you have been through, but whatever it was, it sounds to me like you have an insight into this we simply do not. Take a breath, talk about this however you want, but I can tell you, I want to hear the plan or idea you had in that head of yours. If you want to talk about something else, tell us what is buried deep inside, we will listen to it as well. Whatever. The floor is yours and you will have our support for your demons if you want to tell us.”

“Why?” Gage fought back the desire to start crying. “You ain’t going to do it even if I tell you what I think we need to do!”

Lt. Grader glanced over at PFC Hulbert then over to Gage, “While I may not fully agree, part of what you said makes perfect sense to me. So, at the very least, I am totally open to you or another volunteer and Private Hulbert being on top as we move in range of the buildings to get anyone else stranded on trees or other structures out of water and the danger. You are both right. Those kids, and a few adults need rescuing. You are also right in one other thing. Small arms will not hurt the FOX and those stuck out there need us to get to them. But if you have a plan for the buildings, then speak up.”

“I’ll ride on top too!” Angus stated, showing total support for Gage.

This seemed to help. Gage turned sharply and sat back down, while wiping his eyes. He already guessed the others saw them for what they were, tears, but it felt better to try to hide them nonetheless. The fact the outburst had left him shaking, was also easier for him to pretend to hide sitting down.

It took close to a minute but Gage finally gained enough control to speak. “I was going to say, we should just float the other tank right up to those buildings and tell them to let anyone go who want to come with us or we plow through the buildings! We make them let us see everyone and let each one of them tell us if they want to come with us or stay while we point assault rifles at their asses! We should also take any kind of scout uniform from those who stay. Cause I think what Angus said earlier is right. Them jerks ain’t going to give the rest of us a bad name!”

“And if they say no?” Cpl. Way asked softly.

“Ram the building until they say yes. We’ve seen how deep the water is and they ain’t going to get to the canoes unless we let ’em. They’ve got to want the supplies they got left and us messing up their building will mean we will knock some of the crap into water and ruin the shelter they have. They do what we want, or they end up like those they left out on the trees and crap!”

Lt. Grader’s right eyebrow arched showing he was seriously considering the youngster’s words. “And once we have everyone who wants to leave safe with us, then what?”

“We get all the scout clothing and get anyone who wants to come and we let ’em go. They got canoes, so they can get clear of the water. Sounds like they have some food, rifles, and ammo, so they won’t be helpless, but we have seen a bit of what is out here. They won’t be at the top of the pecking order like they are here!”

Ramsey looked over with a questioning frown, “They could still hurt people, Gage.”

“They could, but do we really want them in Hill City? There is no way we could kill them all without hurting some who really don’t want to be there, and I know Hunter would lose his mind if we made the deal and then shot them…”

“I wouldn’t allow such a thing!” Lt. Grader interrupted. “We aren’t murderers!”

“Well they are and I think they deserve it after leaving others to die in trees and junk, but I know I am going to lose and I also saw what Hunter did to the bigger kid in Jennings, so I know he would beat me silly if I even tried.”

“He wouldn’t get the chance, Gage.” Angus growled, “I would. Honor is part of being a scout. Once we give our word we keep it.”

A slight chuckle escaped Gage’s lips as he looked over at Angus, “I already figured you would side with Hunter. But, look, I agree with you. There isn’t much left and being a scout needs to mean something. It has got us this far and needs to get us to find your families. I say we offer them the deal and, even if they say no, we make them agree.”

PFC Hulbert couldn’t help it, “What if they hurt some of the kids with them? If they did, we can’t just let them go, can we?”

Vernon spoke up from up front letting everyone know Gage’s outburst had woken him. “At the roadblock, we offered to let the bad guys go if they left Mr. Meeker and his family alone. They did bad before, and we were going to let them go. We can’t fix what they did and I bet Gage is right. Hill City wouldn’t want them, even if they do have a jail. Using food to feed them would be taking food away from others, too. Just getting through to next year to try to plant full fields is going to be hard enough without feeding a horde of bad guys.”

Lt. Grader wiggled his jaw back and forth as he mulled over the situation a bit longer. Finally he gave a hard nod and stood, “I’d never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but these boys are making a hell of a lot more sense than we were. However, the real threat is from the buildings. To this end, we deal with them first. Angus, I want you with us as well when we tell them how this is going to go, but you stay in the FOX until they agree. You are not going as a combatant. Instead, you are there to be a friendly face for any of the scouts, since they will certainly be really scared of us.”

“Let me come too,” Vernon spoke up. “Two of us will look better than one kid who looks stronger than most adults.”

Lt. Grader gave Vernon a thumb’s up even as he continued talking. “Once we have them cowed, we will then have everyone move up to the top of the building and see who wants to stay and who wants to go. “Angus and Vernon, this is where you two will have to expose yourselves, so keep your eyes out for anyone being stupid. Also, Hulbert, you and Weathers get to take point on this. You two have one primary job: It’s to keep these two boys safe. Then, once we take on those who want to come with us, you both get to make sure anything inside that identifies the rest of them as scouts gets taken. Those who stay can take the rest, but I want you two to do your best to make them put any firearms in one set of canoes while the ammo goes in the other set. They then get whatever they can grab, get in the canoes and get their butts downstream, out of range. I noticed there is a bend in the water, looks like it may have been the spillway for the dam, but whatever it is, it’s about a mile and a half from here. Once they get there, they can pull out of water if they want, but not before. This will put them well out of rifle range. We then move to the second building and do the same thing, although from what we heard, those in the camp store building were not the big problem.

“However, we take no chances. They do what we want or… well… they do what we want.”

This loosened up everyone quite a bit. Several of those in the back of the Stryker snickered as PFC Hulbert grabbed his gear and nudged Pvt. Weathers to do the same.

Lt. Grader turned, only to see Gage frowning deeply. He stood and moved up to Gage while grabbing his shoulder, “You need to unwind a bit, kiddo, but you want to help. I get it. How about we have you stay on top of the Stryker and keep a rifle on the departing canoes with Spec. Grimm. This way you can alert us if they do anything other than go down river past what I think used to be the spillway. If they try anything else, you have full permission to put a hole in the offending canoe. If they shoot at us…”

“Their first shot will be their last!” Gage stated as he grabbed his hunting rifle without any outward sign of being bothered by what he had divulged only minutes before.

Lt. Grader waited until Spec. Grimm had him well out of earshot before turning to look back at the other kids. He focused his stare on Angus, but was clearly talking to all three boys. “Is he going to be OK?”

Ramsey took a peek out the back making sure Gage was in fact well away before speaking, “Sir, what I have heard in his nightmares when he stays over my house was enough to give me some of my own, but he shuts it out really good. He doesn’t even have them much anymore, or if he does, he doesn’t talk in his sleep like he used to. I know he can’t stand the dark, either, but now I think I know why…”

Ramsey took a deep breath and wipe a couple of tears out of his eyes, “But if I’d known half of what he said today, I would have told my dad no matter how bad he didn’t want me to. Until now, I thought someone used to hit him and junk and he said it was over and stuff. I sure didn’t know whoever it was locked him in a closet with no food or bathroom!”

PFC Hulbert pulled his combat pack over his shoulder and patted Ramsey on the shoulder, “You did just fine. You were there for him and I could see it in his eyes. The way he looked at you, when he thought you told us what you knew, was the same look my brother gave me when he thought I told on him for putting the dent in the side of Dad’s old 53 Buick. His eyes also had the same look of gratefulness when he found out you didn’t, so he trusts you. I don’t think he trusts too many people, so you are special to him. You all are, actually, and you should all be proud of it.”

“Hulbert is right, guys,” Lt. Grader agreed. “But if given the chance, see if you can get him to let it all out, preferably with an adult. It is eating him and him turning it off is no different than what troopers try to do. I have seen this in adults and it’s not good short or long term. The way he seems to be able to close the door and be normal in the blink of an eye, is just like men I have been in combat with who try to pretend it can be brushed off. It can’t. Bad crap haunts a person and twists good people into something not as good. Many deal with it, but they are never as good as they once were. I see a good and caring kid, but his past needs to be dealt with while he still is who he is. Unless he deals with it and talks, it will only get worse, because I can tell you from what I have seen with combat vets…” Lt. Grader stopped as he decided what to say. The fact he was talking with kids made it harder, but he still needed to get the message across in a clear and concise way. “Let me put it this way. Time does not heal those kinds of wounds unless he lets someone help him through it. Unfortunately, you all may be the only help he will accept, so stay open and understanding. When he talks, encourage him to tell you all more, but don’t demand it. Other than those words of advice, continue doing exactly what you have been. Because, even though he doesn’t want to admit it, he really wants you all to be his friends and whatever you have all done is letting him see you as such.”

PFC Hulbert managed a tight smile at the three boys, “You can come talk to us if it gets to be too much, though. You are kids and shouldn’t have to deal with such things.”

Angus reached down and secured his rifle then looked up sadly. “Thanks, but it’s a little late to worry about it. Someone needed to tell what you just said to whatever jerk pushed the button before blowing up half the world. Thanks to whoever started this mess, I had to touch a dead kid stuck to a tree today to make sure he was really dead. After that, anything Gage wants to tell us will just blend in. But don’t worry. He is one of us and right now he is as close to a brother as I have left. We won’t make him deal with it alone. Now let’s go get this done.”

Zeki poked his head up and tried to look outside as the train continued to barrel down the tracks with flames licking at the entire front. The problems, as he saw them, were three fold; four if he included his badly cut chin, but to him that was not really a priority at the moment. His primary concern was he couldn’t see the tracks through the flames and badly cracked and spider-webbed front windows. This meant if there was a problem with the tracks the train would derail. Second, he couldn’t slow down until the flames were out or they very well might cook. It was already very hot inside the engine and getting hotter. When coupled with the fact he couldn’t see the tracks, a derailment would be nasty since they were going so fast. Third, and actually not quite as scary for the small boy, the train was headed right toward a town known to have been hit by a nuclear weapon and they were getting there at just over seventy miles an hour. The real reason this didn’t seem as bad as the first two, was Zeki guessed they would never get there. At some point, he figured the track would be buckled from the explosion and they would derail.

Zeki frowned as he quietly chided himself, Uncle Kadir would not be happy with him right now and he knew it. The man had also told him to look for the good in any situation and there were a few things he could point to. The most obvious was they were alive and the windows had not broken, so the flames were outside and staying there. Also, while his chin was badly cut, he had all his teeth and the pain wasn’t horrible. Truth be told, he had been hurt worse in the earthquake back in Turkey and he knew it.

Next on the list of possible positives, the skies had looked threatening and to the east they looked even darker, which was the direction they were headed. Because of this, he hoped it would start raining again and put out the fire or at least wash some of the burning gasoline off. Finally, the engine had weathered smashing into the large truck pretty well. There was no sign of extra damage and he was getting readings from the computer screen, which was cracked but still usable.

Next to Zeki, Devin was in full-blown tears as he muttered about burning up. In fact, the youngster was so terrified of the flames outside the cab of the train engine; he had yet to realize he was hurt. The collision with the truck and the subsequent hard jarring had left him with two broken fingers on his left hand and a nasty cut on his left side. His whole mind was focused on the yellow, red, and blue flames dancing over every window he could see out of. He was so fixated on being on fire, the pain of the fingers and the blood dripping down his leg didn’t even register.

Staff Sergeant Carla Fox, on the other hand, was far more worried about heading straight for a nuclear blast site. The very last thing she ever wanted to die of was radiation poisoning or the cancers, which would come from getting too close, yet surviving. However, she had fared better than the boys had. The hard lurch of the collision had knocked her off her feet, but other than a sore ankle, she was fine. Because of this, she turned her attention to the boys. In this she took a military approach, deciding quickly Zeki was far more important to take care of than Devin. She certainly didn’t know how to safely stop the train, after all, and survival revolved around doing so.

To this end SSgt. Fox dug into her combat pack and pulled out a small first aid kit. She put her full attention on the youngster who was most valuable to mission success. This meant she went to work on Zeki’s chin, ignoring Devin completely. The boy tried to twist away at first, so she ended up grabbing him in a bear hug “Knock it off. We all need you in as good of shape as we can get you, so let me see your chin! From what you said, we can’t slow down nor can you see much out the windows at the moment!”

Zeki quickly relented and stifled a shout of pain as he felt an alcohol wipe pressed up against the deep cut. He then felt the woman grab his hand and hold it up to the wipe, while she broke out some bandages and tape. Five minutes and just over six miles went by as the Zeki fought off tears while his chin was first bandaged with some kind of gauze, which burned like crazy, then clamped down on hard by her other hand. He was about to beg to let go and have the lady take it off only to find she was taping it in place.

Seeing the look she was getting, SSgt. Fox pushed Zeki’s hand down, keeping it away from the bandage. “It has medicine on it to make the bleeding stop fast. Leave it alone or I’ll knock you down and sit on you so you can’t move your arms. One way or the other, I’m taping your chin up!”

Zeki heard the hard tone and saw the look of determination in the woman’s eyes. Even with the extreme discomfort he was in, there was no mistaking the words were a promise of what would happen if he didn’t relent. To this end, he took a few short fast breaths as he fought a battle within himself to pull at the offending bandage. He gave it one shot to have her stop, however, “But it fell like on fire!”

“I’ve heard the same from others. I’ve never had to have one put on me, but I know it has to stay on to clot the blood. So, sting or not, leave it alone! Once we get back to Hill City, we’ll have the doctor take it off and look it over.”

Zeki blinked out some tears and forced a nod, even as a noticeable shadow crossed over the flaming train. This broke his focus on the extreme discomfort of his chin, “Us went under bridge. This line no have many underpass, so me think us go under car freeway east of Ogallah.”

SSgt. Fox’s eyebrows arched up, “If you can get that by a shadow, you are one impressive you man!”

“Me have map of all rail line in Kansas and close by. Uncle Kadir help make room and basement be most train stuff and map. Only desk not be for train!”

This got a snicker out of the woman despite the situation and the heat, which forced her to wipe some sweat off his brow. “Your value to the world we find ourselves in cannot be overstated, now hold still.”

With the heat still building in the cab area, Zeki took a swig of water out of his canteen before letting her finish taping the bandage into place. By the time his chin was nothing but tape and bandage, he was starting to see spots in the corners of his eyes. “The hurt and heat make me shaky.”

“Stay low. Heat rises.” SSgt. Fox ordered while making a downward motion with her hand. She then slid over to Devin and looked at the boy’s hand.

Even as SSgt. Fox moved over to look at Devin, Zeki decided to take a knee and focus on breathing.

While SSgt. Fox was not a medic, just like anyone in the Army or National Guard, she had some basic first aid knowledge. She had also seen combat and had people around her injured. To this end she had seen and dealt with some major battlefield injuries. Because of this, she realized the crazy angle of Devin’s pinky and ring fingers were not good and could not stay in the positions they were in. She had to do something drastic if he was going to keep them. While she knew what she was going to do would cause unimaginable pain, she decided to just do it while the boy’s focus was on the flames. Without any warning, she grabbed Devin’s hand and pulled the fingers straight.

Up till the moment his mangled fingers were pulled more or less back into a line, Devin had been so focused on the slowly diminishing flames nothing else mattered. He hadn’t even noticed the damage to his hand, let alone the woman lifting his arm. All of this changed in an instant. Devin did his best to jerk free of SSgt. Fox to no avail, even as he let out a high-pitched screech of agony. Moment later the bones in the fingers made popping and crunching noises as they were pulled straight. As Devin’s eyes rolled up in his head, Zeki turned and puked.

SSgt. Fox let out a long breath and turned her attention back to Zeki, “You OK, over there?”

Zeki spit a couple of times to get the taste of vomit out of his mouth before shaking his head, “Me almost no throw up. Hear Devin scream, made stom-ache go in shape of eight. No make stop food come up second time. Not fell good now.”

“Try to drink some water and spit some out. It’ll help.” She then pointed to the front window; “The flames are starting to go down, so I bet it will cool down in here soon. Just stay down and let your head clear. We need you to stop this beast as soon as we safely can.”

Zeki managed a half-hearted nod, even as he stayed on his knees and pulled his pack closer so he could grab his canteen again. The flames ended well before he found his legs again. Yet, even as he moved to take a look at the track and pulled back on the power, he couldn’t help but watch as the woman pulled out a large combat knife and sliced through Devin’s pants to get to the cut on the boy’s hip.

She also didn’t hesitate to slice through Devin’s boxers so she could look at the wound.

Zeki continued to pull back on the power and started to apply the brakes, while glancing down at the five-inch long vertical gash, which was just below the hip on the outside of the leg. Not being able to look at the injury or the blood-soaked, formally white boxers; he glanced around trying to figure out what Devin had slammed into. After just a few seconds he cringed, as his eyes caught sight of blue jeans threads and blood on the telephone handset receptacle.

SSgt. Fox took a deep breath of her own, “This is pretty deep. Do you have a first aid kit in your pack? I’m going to need more bandages!”

“Mr. Korbul make sure. Not let us not take one. Make us keep in same spot so us all know where to find too! Right side big pouch on army backpack.”

Without hesitation, she grabbed Devin’s pack and pulled open the outside lower right storage compartment. Sure enough, there was a combat first aid kit. “You had a hell of a teacher.”

“Mr. Korbul be best next to me Uncle Kadir. Him almost die to make sure we know how to live now. Teach how to be safe, gun stuff, water drinking, even how to fight and cover other in patrol. Him not stop; make all us learn good or do till us know what him teach.”

“You are all extremely fortunate to have had him with you. I heard a couple of the others talk about this Mr. Korbal as well.”

Zeki forced a nod even as he pulled on the brake lever. The train lurched hard, so Zeki backed off and tried again. As he got the same result, he moved a couple of levers and switches. After a few seconds he spoke with a deep frown. “Mr. Korbul work with us till almost kill him. He was bad hurt and worse sick. Him not stop until he know we could live. Up to now, me say you right, we lucky.”

SSgt. Fox stayed focused on stopping the flow of blood on Devin’s leg but still glanced up. “What do you mean, ‘Up till now’?”

“Something wrong. Train no slow right. Me think release pressure to brake line not making all cars brake. Simulator Uncle Kadir let me try do this one time.” Zeki felt the train jerk hard yet again, so he eased up on the brake again and moved a couple of other levers, not indicating he was scared by this. In fact, his voice only held a hint of concern. “Brake no good like this.”

On the other hand, SSgt. Fox’s voice betrayed her fear. “So there is no emergency brake or something?”

“Yes, but not use it or us be pushed more hard by cars with no brake. Must be problem with air line. When me pressure cars with air, me guess air not make it to back of train, so they no have air charge. Means no pressure difference for three way and no air in tank to push brake on cars with no air. If me do emergency brake, burn brake bad and maybe derail if me try stop us with engine and cars with brake. We on slight turn which bad too. Front try to stop; back not stop, so back keep push and very heavy so they cause derail, we hook like chain, so it twist. The chain make engine jump track too. Be way worser than hit truck.”

While SSgt. Fox didn’t grasp everything Zeki was trying to relay, she got enough of a picture to know slamming on the brakes was not really an option. She returned her focus on Devin, “OK, so what now? we can’t keep going!”

“Let friction stop train.” Zeki stated as he hopped up on the engineer’s chair on his knees so he could see out the front as the last vestiges of flames burned out. As this happened, he noticed rain splattering into the windows. The windshield wipers had burned away, so it made the vision bad, but it also cooled down the metal. After a few seconds of thought, he pulled open the side window and popped his head out so he could see the track before pulling his head back in. He wiped the rain off his face even as he spoke, “Took power off. Engine no pull train now. Ground pretty flat, so unless track get bad we stop, just not stop real soon. Track I can see look OK, so think we not derail.”

A few minutes later, with the train speed below thirty miles an hour, Zeki once again poked his head out the window, then applied the brakes and crossed his fingers. Seconds later the engine hit water, which had totally covered the tracks and waves of water splashed up on both sides.

Not being able to see if there were problems with the track, and knowing the water-logged ground could easily shift under the weight of the train, Zeki said a short prayer, “Allah, you have been with us this far, no let us derail now, please.”

Luck held as the engine made it through the low spot and onto dry ground. The train continued past some buildings and over a bridge even as it continued to slow. Suddenly there was a hard jerk and the whole engine was pulled backwards a couple of feet. A few seconds later there was silence as the whole train came to a stop.

Zeki went out onto the deck of the engine and looked back. He let out a long breath as he saw the nineteenth car back, right at the edge of the bridge they had crossed, was at an angle to the first eighteen. He looked up and spoke softly, “Thank you, Allah!”

Zeki re-entered the engine. “Track shift, no good no more. Train no go no now, unless we go into deep water and unhook last car on track. Um, or we could unhook last car in low water and leave cars in water. No can go too far, though. No track turnoff before Hays.”

SSgt. Fox finished taping the bandage on Devin’s leg before she stood, “I’m not getting any closer to a nuked site…” She moved out into the rain and really looked at where they were. First off, they were very close to deeply flooded areas, as water was just covering the tracks where they were and buildings only a dozen yards away had water lapping up to the first story windows. The buildings told her the water was deeper to the northwest, and much shallower to the southeast. There was a roaring river behind them, which actually made her wonder how the train bridge had held against the torrent. Next she looked at the fact they were very close to many buildings. Several of the structures had serious damage, with water lapping well up on their foundations and a few had boarded-up windows. Finally, she could hear the roaring of a river both behind them and up to the north. She frowned, not recognizing anything, “Where are we?”

Even as lightning flashed overhead and thunder roared, Zeki really looked at what was around them, “Bridge over water, um… river curve to north… east of Ogallah… Um… we has to… Yes, only one place fit this on this line. Us in place called Ellis. Lot of flood here.”

SSgt. Fox was astounded the boy could identify where they were at by the track, but one look at Zeki told her the boy was absolutely certain. She took a deep breath and nodded in agreement about the level of the flood waters as she secured her assault rifle, “Yeah, deep water and more than a few bullet holes in walls. Get your rifle and shotgun and have it handy. If you can detach the engine while staying on it, do so and move us a hundred yards further. This will put us very close to dry land. I’ll radio MSgt. Keating.”

While Kyle likes feedback, he really likes it in the form of criticism. If you don’t like something, find errors, or just want to bitch about something, email him at: KyleArrons at CastleRoland dot net. If you are only reading this and you are enjoying the story, you may still let him know at the above email addy.

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