Emperor of a Dead World (29 page)

“How long before they get here?” Lisa asked, trembling slightly.

“I really don’t know. I do not even know for sure they will come. I just have to make sure everyone is prepared.”

“What will you tell the people?”

“I will tell them the truth. I will tell them everything I know. They have a right to know it all.”

“In the meantime the supply runners have to be extremely careful,” Tyrone added. “These things are not like the others.”

“Before every run I will fly over the area and make sure it is safe.”

“When do you want to make the announcement?” Rudy asked.

“Right now, please gather everyone in front of the stage.”

Rudy and his men went out to call everyone in for the assembly. Once they gathered, Brad walked onto the stage and stood before the over two hundred citizens that now lived at the track. While he spoke, everyone listened in shock and fear but no one made a sound. At the conclusion of his speech, he asked if there were any questions.

“Will we be safe here?” a man asked.

“We have been reinforcing the place for weeks,” Brad replied. “We have also built an underground shelter and stocked it with supplies. If they come, we will hide. If they do not see us, they have no reason to try to come inside.”

“When will they come?”

“I do not know but I am using the drone to watch for them.”

“Will the drone lead them here?”

“It is a necessary risk. I can fly high and zoom in but I will have to come down to land.”

“Can you land somewhere else.”

“I need to come here to recharge and do maintenance.”

“How long will the food last?”

“Two weeks, but we will have to ration. The main thing I want to stress is that they are not yet here so we can keep preparing. We will gather all the food and supplies we can and store them underground. Now please, go back to work. Time is of the essence.” He turned and walked off the stage.

Tyrone and Rudy walked with him to the control room.

“We confiscated a lot of weapons from the creeps that tried to steal this place but it is nowhere near enough,” Tyrone began.

“I have told the men not to attack if they see the new ones approach the building,” Rudy added. “Their orders are to stand down and alert the people to go to the shelter. We will only fight if necessary.”

“I cannot believe those things can swim,” Brad said with disgust. “We have just learned how to mass kill them and now it no longer works. What if they suddenly sprout wings and fly?”

“Then we are in deep shit,” Tyrone laughed.

There was a knock on the door and Rudy answered it. He spoke to a man with a long nose then turned to Brad. “The men would like to know if you want them to go on another run.”

“Where are you going?” Brad asked the long nosed man.

The man told him.

“Let me do a flyby first.” He walked to his laptop. “Please go unplug the drone,” he told the boy that had flown it. As the boy headed off, Brad turned to the runner and spoke to his nose. “I want to do a flyover before every mission to make sure the area is safe so make sure I know before you go.”

The man nodded his nose.

Brad turned back to the laptop and watched until the charging light went off. When it did, he turned on the microphone and said, “All clear.” He now took the drone up and got away from the track as quickly as possible. After getting a safe distance, he banked around to fly over the area the men were going. He first zoomed in with the camera then he headed down for a closer look. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he circled a couple of blocks away and tried to get the creatures to follow. After he got them moving, he turned back to the runner’s nose. “Go ahead, the area is safe.”

The man followed his nose out the door with Tyrone behind him.

Brad now sent the drone back to Belmont Shore to check on things. The dancer was still flopping around and the creatures were everywhere. He smiled when he saw some were still falling into the ocean. After doing a couple of passes, he flew low over the beach so he could determine the breed of creatures. To his relief he saw none of the advanced ones. He now headed out to sea but he saw no trace of the ones in the water.

Satisfied with the situation at the beach, he took a closer look at the city. He wanted to know if other advanced creatures were around. He could not believe he had killed them that easily. He searched the city for about forty-five minutes but still saw none of the dangerous ones.

Before heading home, he flew out over the ocean then up into the clouds to hide. Once safely concealed he went all the way to the 91 freeway before banking around to return to the track. As he headed back, he was carefully watching the ground below and something caught his eye. When he circled around, he saw eight vehicles on the freeway traveling east. He immediately went back up into the clouds and watched from a distance. The caravan was moving slowly in and out of abandoned cars and when they got to the 605, they headed south. This was no coincidence. They were coming to the track. Friend or foe he did not know but he had to find out. He flew low over the vehicles and as soon as they saw him, they stopped and pointed rifles at him. This settled it. They were enemies. He took the drone up into the clouds then turned to Rudy who was sleeping in a chair behind him. “Get Tyrone now,” he bellowed.

Chapter 24

Brad kept the drone circling the convoy from a distance. He needed to watch them but he had to stay far enough away that they could not shoot him down. He wished he had not shown them the drone but he had to find out who they were.

“Where are they,” Tyrone roared as he and Rudy entered.

“Just past South Street on the 605,” Brad replied.

“They are coming here,” Tyrone snarled.

“Maybe they are going to the fort,” Rudy interjected.

“I don’t think so,” Brad disagreed.

“Are you sure it is not your friends from Palo Alto?” Rudy asked.

“They would not have pointed guns at the drone,” Brad argued.

“They would also have flown their own drone over first,” Tyrone insisted.

Brad turned to Rudy. “Place your men around the perimeter of the property. I will keep an eye in the sky.”

“I would station most of the men in the front,” Tyrone added. “We can move them around as needed.”

Rudy nodded then rushed off.

Brad glanced at the screen. “I still have almost four hours of fly-time and the drone is fully armed.”

“Have you ever shot anything?”

“Not with this one but I have hit a creature with another drone.”

“Does this one fire the same way?”

“No. This one is much better. I have no doubt I will hit whatever I aim at.”

Both men stared at the screen for several minutes without speaking. Finally the convoy got off at Katella Ave.”

“Almost show time,” Brad said.

Rudy rushed in. “I instructed the women and children to go to the shelter. Any male over fourteen that can fight is getting ready. Only men with rifles are on the wall. The ones with handguns and swords and other such hand-to-hand weapons are standing by any weak spots where someone could enter. My number-one man will direct people as the need arises.

“Wow,” Brad said,” you were born for this type of work. What did you say you did before?”

“I worked at a gas station.”

“You missed your calling.”

“Without an education I could not get a better job. I could not live up to my full potential.”

“You are living up to it now,” Tyrone smiled. “Did you ever think of going into the military?”

“That would have been a little tough.”

“Why is that?”

“I am illegal.”

“Not anymore,” Tyrone laughed. “I grant you citizenship and from now on I am going to call you General Rudy.”

“Better wait and see how this turns out,” Rudy chuckled nervously as he looked out the window.

“They are passing the church,” Brad observed. “If they turn down this way I will drop a bomb on them.”

“Do you know for sure they are the enemy?” Rudy asked.

“There is no doubt in my mind,” Brad replied.

“I agree,” Tyrone said. “These guys are definitely up to no good.”

The caravan stopped at the intersection of Siboney Street and Katella Avenue but did not take a left toward the racetrack.

“What is going on?” Lisa asked nervously as she barged in.

“Why aren’t you in the shelter?” Brad flashed.

“You cannot lock me in there.”

“I need to know you are safe.”

“I am going to stay right here with you.”

“I can have someone carry you down there if I you like.”

“Who is going to try to do it?”

“Here they come,” Tyrone interrupted.

Brad glanced out the window at the slowly approaching caravan then turned back to his laptop. “That’s it,” he fumed. He selected ‘Bomb-Ready’ and crosshairs popped up with a message directing him to maintain an altitude of one hundred feet. He adjusted his altitude and flew over the caravan until the crosshairs were on the lead truck. He then clicked ‘Bomb Release’ but nothing happened. “What the hell?”

A second later a pop-up asked,
Are you sure
?

“God damn Danny,” Brad cussed. He circled around and clicked yes when he was once again over the lead vehicle.

Another pop-up,
Timed out
.

“Shit,” he exclaimed in frustration. He right clicked on ‘Bomb Release’ and deselected ‘Bomb confirm’.

“How did you know to do that?” Tyrone asked.

“I am starting to learn how this guy thinks.”

“Why would he mess with you like that?” Rudy asked.

“He could not have anticipated this kind of emergency and he was trying to keep me from hurting myself or anyone else.” As Brad said this, he circled again but by now, the enemy was near the gas trucks.

“Too late man,” Tyrone warned. “Better hold off.”

As Brad watched them advance, he was steaming in anger. They went past the gas trucks and continued toward the gate. He circled the drone around until he had the first truck in his crosshairs once again then clicked ‘Bomb Release’. This time the bomb dropped and everyone held his or her breath as it fell. It landed right in front of the lead truck and exploded causing the vehicle to jerk up and roll over in flames. The other trucks immediately lined up out front.

At this point, the engineer ran in and cried, “What happened.” He then rushed over to the window.

“Get away from there,” Brad yelled just as the window shattered sending fragments of glass into the man’s face. The attackers had begun firing on the building from behind their vehicles.

Infuriated by the attack, Brad circled around and shot a couple of missiles at his enemies. They in turn fired at the drone and this forced him to fly out of range.

On the roof of the building Rudy’s men were doing a good job of holding the attackers down but Brad was concerned they would use up all their ammo so he told Rudy to get them to conserve.

He headed out to give the order.

“It will not be long before reinforcements arrive,” Tyrone said.

Brad did not respond. He knew what Tyrone meant.

When Rudy’s men stopped shooting, Brad could see his enemies getting something out of one of the trucks. “What are they doing?” he asked Tyrone.

Tyrone stood off to the side of the broken window and watched. Suddenly he shouted, “Get back. They have an RPG.”

“What is an RPG?” Lisa demanded in a fit of anxiety.

“Rocket propelled grenade,” Tyrone replied.

Brad immediately brought the drone back. He had to strike first. “Drag Lisa out of here,” he ordered.

Tyrone took her by the arm.

“Let me go. I am staying.”

“No you are not,” Tyrone insisted as he pulled her out.

The gunfire on the roof became heavy again. Rudy had also seen the threat. Suddenly two explosions rocked the building. They had taken a hit.

Lisa screamed and grabbed Tyrone to steady herself. They exchanged glances then rushed back into the room. Brad was staring at the monitor looking at the damage. Nothing had hit the control room. Using the drone’s camera, he zoomed in on the building. About fifty feet to the right of them, he saw a gaping hole. He had dropped a bomb just before the man pulled the trigger deflecting his shot. Fortunately, the hole was on the second level and it would not allow the creatures in. While examining the damage they heard another explosion. The men had shot another RPG but Brad could not tell where it hit. As he scanned the area, he looked out front and saw the enemy fighting another battle. As Tyrone had predicted, the creatures were now joining the campaign.