Chap 2
A half hour after I left my house all of us where assembled. Each of us had found plenty of knives, guns and supplies to last us for a while. Kyle had even brought a bow and some arrows.
“Alright now that we are here I think that we should elect a leader,” I said to the group.
“You should be the leader Jesse!” Shouted Brandon from the back.
“Seriously? Why me of all people?” I asked him.
“Because if it weren’t for your leadership our football team wouldn’t have made it to state last year, and you’re the top of the class as well,” He replied.
“Okay, all in favor of electing me as the leader?” Everyone raised their hands.
“Alright, looks like I’m leader then,” I said to the people closest to me, “Well first things first, we need transportation and a plan of action. Anybody have a suggestion?”
“I got one for transport,” Miranda said, “A truck and trailer would do nicely don’t you think?”
“A truck with a camper trailer would be better in my opinion,” said Kyle.
“I agree with both of you,” I replied, “I even know where we could get one as well. There’s a truck with a camper sitting in the middle of town and I think it may belong to the enemy. Hope they don’t mind lending it to us. Now we just need a plan. Why don’t we head towards the Pacific, swipe a yacht or other small vessel, then find some island to set up our base?”
Everyone agreed that it was a good idea seeing as we really didn’t have much of a better plan anyway. So we all headed back into town.
The entire town was filled with enemy soldiers and armored vehicles. Attack helicopters and transport aircraft flew overhead. On more than one occasion we where forced to hide in a garage or in some bushes to avoid detection.
It took us an hour to get to it, but we managed to get to the truck I had told everyone about. And luck was on our side that the keys where in the ignition. As stealthily as we could we loaded our supplies into the camper. While everyone else was preparing to leave, John and myself went to the front of the truck and hopped in. It had enough gadgets to make any over the road trucker jealous. A coffee maker, a snack machine, and a two way phone system to connected to the camper.
After checking out the cab we went back towards the camper. The others had just finished up putting all of our supplies into it.
“I certainly hope that these modern Nazis don’t mind if we borrow one of their transport units,” Brandon joked.
“Save the jokes for when we’re out of town with nobody chasing us,” John said to him.
“Okay ladies and gentlemen. This is it. If we can make it to the interstate we should be good to go. We need to figure out who’s driving first and who’s riding shotgun.” I was starting to like everyone looking to me for what to do.
We all agreed that John and I would ride up front first. After an hour John would go to the trailer, I would take the wheel and someone else would ride shotgun. We didn’t really want to have to stop to rest for the night.
Between John and myself we decided that he should drive first. How we managed to get out of town without being stopped and questioned still puzzles me. Everything went smooth. The truck ran beautifully. It even had two large tanks and both where full of fuel. Everything was going great. Until we hit the interstate turnoff.
A car that had no identifying markings came up behind us flashing lights at us. Not wanting to look suspicious we pulled over. A man in a uniform that I didn’t recognize got out of his car and proceeded up to the cab. I radioed the camper and told the occupants to stay low and silent.
The uniformed man came up to the driver’s side window. John rolled it down. “Good afternoon boys,” he said, ‘Are you aware that travel is forbidden at this time for civilians?”
“No sir as a matter of fact we did not,” John said to him.
“Well I’m sorry to have to do this but I need to confiscate this truck and the trailer.”
“And what gives you the authority to do that?” I asked him.
He lost his patience then, “I’m an agent for the new government in this country! Now get out of the truck!” He had a pistol drawn and was pointing it at us. However he was unaware that both of us where armed as well.
We got out of the truck like he instructed. He told us to walk over to the pursuit car all the while keeping the gun pointed at us.
We where just beyond the trailer when I turned and knocked the gun that was trained on my head away. I then punched him as hard as I could in the stomach.
Being unprepared for this sudden attack he went down hard. John gave him a pretty nasty kick to the head and he blacked out. A shout came from the car. Another uniformed agent was getting out and was reaching for a submachine gun. John and I both drew our own guns and trained them on him.
“Set that gun on the pavement nice and slowly or we shoot!” I shouted. He did as he was told. I walked over and kicked the gun out of his reach. I then cuffed his hands to the steering wheel with his own handcuffs. We then looted the car. We managed to find a rations kit, some camouflage netting, a taser, some taser bullet things that appeared that they where to be fired from a shotgun, and of course some guns and ammunition.
John and I returned to the truck and radioed all clear to the camper. We got onto the interstate and headed west. There where no other cars on the interstate. Not even enemy personnel. John just turned on the cruise control and we headed towards the Pacific Ocean at seventy mph.
Nothing happened for nearly a half hour until I turned the radio scanner on. I picked up a station that was broadcasting enemy c.b. transmissions.
“Cars six and seven, we have a white personnel truck hauling a camper heading west on Interstate twenty-four. Give pursuit and bring them in. Occupants are believed to be armed so use caution when engaging.
I radioed the camper, “We’re about to have some company, prepare for battle. Driver transfer in ten minutes.”
“Roger that,” came Kyle’s reply.
Five minutes went by. Nothing. Ten minutes went by. Still nothing. John pulled over and went to the back. I slid into the driver’s seat while Mackenzie slid into the shotgun seat next to me.
I suppose it couldn’t hurt to tell you a little more about her and I. We had been dating for nearly two months and where getting close to a third.
Anyway, I started the truck again and soon we where cruising down the road again.
Five minutes later the phone ran. Mackenzie answered it. “Okay, I’ll ask him. The people in the back are saying that we have two cars tailing us and want permission to open fire.”
I looked in the rearview mirrors and saw that we really where being pursued. “We can’t afford to stop. Permission granted.”
Gunfire could be heard from the back. Mackenzie prepared our guns as well. Good thing too because we sure did need them.
One car careened away trailing smoke. The other accelerated and drew level with the cab. The driver was yelling something at me but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I knew we had to lose him before he could call for reinforcement. I swerved into him.
Unfortunately he didn’t panic and wreck like I had hoped he would. No, instead he kept his cool and continued at the same pace on the grass strip. I realized I had no alternative. I pulled out my pistol and rolled down the window. I took aim at the front tire and fired. The tire blew but he somehow kept on coming. The driver appeared to be reaching for a gun. I prepared to fire a round into the back tire. Thats when the front tire caught something and the front end plowed into the dirt. The pursuit car came to a stop. He wasn’t going anywhere until a tow truck came. I hit the accelerator and we got out of there.
Fifteen minutes later we crossed the Missouri River into Nebraska. The river was full of military boats of almost every size. I was certain we had gotten spotted when we crossed. With the way things where going it seemed like it would be a miracle if we got out alive.
The rest of my shift passed without incident. I pulled over and let Mackenzie take the wheel. Kyle took shotgun and I went back to the camper.
Having not been in the camper before I was immediately impressed when I entered it. It had a generator that created and stored energy on the go, living quarters with room for six, a t.v. with video game system with all of the newest games, a large refrigerator, and a decent sized shower. Everyone was clustered around the table looking at a map of the Pacific.
“Ah, we where just discussing were a good spot to set up a base would be,” John said to me, “We’ve narrowed it down to a few islands such as Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Pearl and Hermes Atoll, and Midway. What do you think?”
“I think Midway would be the best option because it is centrally located and it already has a military base set up,” I replied.
“We where thinking the same but we also came up with a problem.”
“And what might that be?” I asked.
“Well it’s already a base so it will probably be overrun the enemy,” Brandon said.
“Looks like we’re going to need to recruit some then,” Was my response.
So we decided on Midway. I passed the time playing a shooting game based off of World War Two on the video game system and organized my trading cards. Some of the other played cards or looked out the window at the passing landscape.
Around eight thirty I was back up front riding shotgun with John again. The road was dark and quiet. No other vehicle passed by accept ours. John and myself where tired. I nearly fell asleep on duty twice and the coffee I was drinking wasn’t helping. Even the radio that had chattered enemy broadcasts all day was silent. The darkness had an eerie feeling to it. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was following us. Yet nothing attacked us.
An hour later, I was driving and Mackenzie had taken my place at shotgun. Still nothing came at us.
My driving shift ended and I went to go find a comfortable spot to sleep somewhere in the camper. I found a decent one underneath the table seeing as the beds where taken. Before I knew it I was fast asleep.