The Tank

The Tank, Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A federal penitentiary was Axel’s home until the bombs dropped. Now it was still his home, but it was his fortress instead of his prison. And it made an excellent fortress. All the walls and towers that used to keep criminals in now kept rivals out.

Axel moved out of his prison cell and into what used to be the Warden’s house. He sat in the Warden’s lazy boy chair, having his beard trimmed by the woman who was once the Warden’s wife. Judging from the bruises on her face, Axel hasn’t treated her well.

Hendrix and Gap didn’t bother to knock. They just swung the door wide and stomped inside. They did nod, however, offering Axel a sign of respect before speaking. “You were right. The tank’s at the farm,” Gap reported.

Axel didn’t look at his two lieutenants. He just stared at the reflection of his own face in the blank TV screen. “Any obvious way to take it out?”

“Pretty tough,” Hendrix admitted.  “ATGM to the engine block would do it, but its guns and turret would still work. And it’s parked right in the middle of the village. Getting close enough would be iffy.”

Axel nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe we need our own tanks.”

“Where we gonna get our own tanks?”

“There’s a war going on out there. Tanks are everywhere,” Axel asserted with confidence. “You just gotta know where to look.” He looked out the window, then, squinting against the rising sun.

Twenty kilometers to the south the sun was rising over our village. Cordite put his arm over his eyes to shield them from the glare, but then he wiggled out of his sleeping bag, zipped open the door of his tent, and stood up into the crisp clean air of another aftermath morning. He paused long enough to take in the sight of the green hills, blue sky and puffy clouds. “I feel like I’m in a kellog’s commercial, he muttered to himself.”

Then he noticed a dust cloud in the distance. He kneeled down, fished inside his tent, and pulled out his handheld radio. “Morning everyone. Wish I could let you sleep in, but it looks like we’ve got company.” Cordite let go of the transmit button and started walking toward the tank.

As he passed a barn the door to the hayloft swung open. A half-naked Tex gave Carmine a kiss before leaping to the ground. Carmine tossed his clothes down after him. Tex gathered up his uniform and started putting it on as he fell in beside Cordite, scratching himself uncomfortably.  “Enjoy your roll in the hay?” Cordite asked.

“Enjoyed the roll immensely. The hay not so much.”

“Chiggers.”

“Chig-what?”

“Chiggers. The bugs that live in the hay. They’re why you’re so itchy.”

“And here I thought the Army had already introduced me to every kind of bug there was.” Tex began to button his shirt, pausing every other button to scratch.

Cagney was already up, leaning over the embers of a burned-out bonfire. She waved as they approached. “Boiled some oats in chicken broth.” She walked up beside them and handed them each a tin cup of steaming gruel. Cordite and Tex ate appreciatively as they continued to march, Lacey trotting up beside them. “Thanks,” Cordite acknowledged between bites.

Cagney nodded toward the approaching dust cloud. “Think it’s Axel’s gang?”

“That’s my bet.”

Maverik and Ratchet met at the tank, having come from the opposite side of the village. “What’s the plan, boss?”

“Combat stations. Cagney, take Lacey out and check for any surprises.”