United States Of Apocalypse (19 page)

T
hree days later
, Darlene saw the ragtag line of people walking down the road. She was glad they’d chopped down all the trees and eventually cut them into a massive pile of firewood for future use.

Now she could see this line of people before they could see her, and she knew Tee would be leading them. She yelled for Herbert, who was inside taking a nap. Since all this started, their sleeping patterns were all off. Darlene was getting used to taking two interrupted naps a day instead of getting a solid eight hours, and sleeping on the couch while everyone was awake wasn’t always easy.

“Well, I’ll be,” Herbert said and smiled. He poked his head back inside. “Pheebz, you better get the rest of the silverware cleaned. It looks like we got fifty people coming for lunch.”

“I just hope John doesn’t shoot anyone,” Darlene said.

“Actually...could you drive out to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid?”

Darlene nodded. Better to be safe than sorry. John had cooled down over the last few days, but he was still being too quiet and moody. He always had a weapon on him despite the fact he’d never even shot a gun before all this happened.

By the time she drove down to the trees and warned John, Tee had gathered everyone off the side of the driveway where the trees had been staged for firewood.

Several tents were going up, and already a cooking fire was being started.

Tee came over to Darlene and hugged her as she got off the three-wheeler. It was unexpected but not bad, and Darlene realized Tee had cleaned up and was wearing what looked like a new shirt, shorts, and sneakers. He had a ridiculously large hat on his head and Darlene thought it might even be a ladies hat, but she didn’t comment. She was sure it had helped him stay out of the California sun.

“Where have you been?” Darlene asked, looking at all the people.

Tee waved a hand. “With some friends. We have to hide during daylight hours so we could only move such a large mass of people right before dusk. At night, they search with their trucks, but by first light, they’re gone. It never varies, so when it got dark we continued moving towards you until we found somewhere else to hide until night again.”

“That sounds horrible.”

“Oh, it was. But along the way we found a few more recruits and got lucky with people having supplies as well as finding a sundries supplier off of a dirt road that they hadn’t spotted yet. The warehouse was intact and filled with more things than we could carry. They sent shipments to prisons on the coast, and we have enough razors and candy to kill someone now,” Tee said, laughing.

“Do you have weapons?” Darlene asked.

Tee lifted his t-shirt, showing the pistol he was carrying. “Everyone has something, even if it’s only a broken leg from a chair.”

Herbert was walking among the people, shaking hands and chatting. He looked relaxed for the first time in a while. He started helping a family put up their tent.

Darlene was worried, though. All of these new people would need food, and setting them up near the driveway meant anyone could see them from the street. They’d need to start patrols and watch the fires at night.

Tee wandered off, and Darlene went to Herbert.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” she asked.

“Sure. What’s up? Isn’t this great?”

“Yes, it is. But...” Darlene looked at Herbert and frowned. “We need to protect these people. Putting them in front of the house only exposes them to the Sawyers and the group holding the town prisoner and anything else happening down the road, or some other potential enemy seeing the smoke during the day or the glow of the fire at night.”

Herbert shook his head. “You’re right. I got so excited they were survivors; I didn’t think.”

“Let’s make the rounds and get them moving before they get too comfortable,” Darlene said.

“We can move them between the red barn and the back of the house.” Herbert looked around. “With so many hands, we should be able to clean out the barns in no time, too. Maybe set up some temporary housing in case it rains.”

“Good idea.” Darlene saw Tee and went back over to him. “We need to move everyone to the back for safety.”

Tee nodded and turned to the people he was helping. “Change of plans. Everyone needs to grab their gear and follow this pretty lady to a more permanent spot.”

Within an hour, most of the camp was set up, and Darlene set to task organizing it. They needed to block it off from a casual observer coming up the road. She collected half a dozen men, and they gathered the extra sections of fence and wooden slats and began the task of building a secondary wall from the house to the barn.

A neighbor from down the road had spotted the long line of people and joined them, packing his wife, kids, and the few scraps of food they had left. But when he handed Darlene two infrared rifle scopes and four rechargeable walkie-talkies with a recharging station, she thanked him profusely.

Herbert stood on the back porch with Pheebz and smiled, greeting people and shaking hands.

Darlene, after she’d gotten the fence posts dug and the fence itself was going up, took a break and joined Herbert and Pheebz on the porch.

She Pheebz looked around at the influx of people, but she wasn’t as positive and calm as Herbert was. All she saw was another fifty or so mouths to feed.

“You’ve got your own little nation here, dear.” Pheebz said, hugging her husband.

“Herbert, let me ask you a serious question...do you know many of these people?” Darlene asked.

“I recognize a few faces.”

“Do you see anyone who might have a tie to the Sawyer family?”

Herbert frowned and pulled away from his wife. “Not off the top of my head, but I’ve been so busy figuring out how these people could help out.”

“What’s wrong?” Pheebz asked.

“Anyone who wanted to get up close and personal to us to see our defenses, what we have as far as supplies and weapons are concerned, and anything else, could have easily joined this group at some point and is right now spying,” Darlene said. She knew she sounded paranoid, but she couldn’t help it.

“I’ll take a walkthrough once everyone is settled and figure out who I know and don’t know. Then get Tee and see which people were in his original group and which joined them,” Herbert said.

“I have infrared scopes and walkie-talkies too. I need to charge them but then it will be nice to have one in the tree and up front at night,” Darlene said.

Darlene knew with all the noise out back, her power naps on the couch would come to an end, but it was still better than sleeping on the ground. How in the world she’d ever get enough privacy or bathroom time now was a mystery. She decided to keep her diva thoughts to herself.

By the time she’d gone inside, plugged the charger to the wall, and gone through the kitchen to the backyard, someone had set up two blowup pools and was filling one with water.

“What are you doing?” she asked, running over to the guy holding his shirt in one hand and the water hose in the other.

“Filling up the pools. It’s hot out,” he said.

Darlene shook her head. “No. We can’t waste the water. The power could go out anytime, and we need to conserve everything possible.”

“The water has nothing to do with the power,” he said. He grinned, the look on his face simple: He thought Darlene was an idiot. “And without everyone using their water because they’re dead, we got plenty of it now.”

Darlene turned away and went in search of Herbert. She found him near the red barn talking to Tee and another man.

“They’re filling up swimming pools,” Darlene said.

Herbert smiled. “I saw that. We were just discussing going over to the Mackenzie farm and maybe getting their water tower over to us.”

“An entire tower?” Darlene asked.

“It’s empty. They haven’t used it in ages. It’s more for show than anything, but I figure it is still solid and can hold a lot of water. I got three hoses, and we can fill the tank over a day or two. No telling when the power and water is going to disappear,” Herbert said.

Darlene shrugged. Maybe she was thinking too hard about all of this, but this goodwill and endless supplies wasn’t going to last forever, and she didn’t want to see what would happen when things began to run out. She knew from watching the news what happened then: People became even more selfish and violent when they thought they weren’t going to get the last scrap of food.

Tee nodded. “Tell me where it is, and I’ll run over with a couple of men and bring it here. It’ll take a while to fill, so the sooner the better, right? I’ll see if they have extra hoses as well.”

Darlene didn’t want to go on this mission. She wanted to relax now that they had so many extra eyes and hands. She looked at Herbert. “There are a ton of people now. Having two bathrooms inside isn’t going to help.”

Herbert snapped his fingers. “Of course.” He turned to two men standing nearby. “In the barn, you’ll find a few shovels. Take them and a couple more men and walk out about a hundred yards...” Herbert pointed his finger at an invisible spot down the field. “We need to dig a trench for waste. A long one, and have someone get you the last of the fencing so you can get some privacy as well.”

Darlene spent some time wandering around, introducing herself to a few of the other women and being friendly to the many children. She felt helpless, though, because there was nothing she could really do to help any of them. Most had suffered much more than she had. While she had never lost electricity or gone without food, some of these people had gone without both for weeks.

She stood and watched as people settled in and wondered if she’d be able to do it if it came to being outside without any choice to be comfortable.

Darlene didn’t think she could handle it. She went inside and smiled at Pheebz, who was peeling potatoes. Rosemary was next to her, washing and handing them over.

“Who are you cooking for?” Darlene asked.

Pheebz frowned. “For us. I know this is a wonderful thing to have all these people safe, but I can’t imagine the logistics of feeding half a hundred mouths three times a day. I figure Herbert will have to put together a plan and see what supplies and food we even have at this point.”

“My big brother wants to save the world,” Rosemary said.

“It isn’t a bad trait to have,” Darlene said. “What do you want me to do to help?”

Pheebz shook her head. “Nothing. We’re taking our time with it. Go relax on your couch-bed until dinner. You look exhausted. Take a nap while it’s still quiet in the house. The boys are playing in the bedroom, but they’ll be out soon enough when they smell good cooking.”

Darlene was going to protest and tell the women she wanted to help, but she didn’t. She wanted to plop on the couch and watch mindless television until she fell asleep. Hopefully a nice power nap was in her future before the room got loud.

She kicked her shoes off and fixed the pillows on the couch, snuggling up with the blanket she used at night. The remote control was at her fingertips and her goal was to steer clear of the news.

When the TV came on, she couldn’t turn the channel. She knew it would be on every channel.
Dear God, not again
, she thought. “Pheebz, can you quietly tell Herbert to come in the living room?” she yelled.

“What is it?”

“He needs to see this, but I don’t want everyone to panic,” Darlene said and sat up. She turned the volume down so it wasn’t too loud but she could still hear it.

By the time Pheebz found Herbert and got him inside, Darlene had watched an endless loop of the destruction. She’d been staying away from the newscasts because she didn’t want to know anymore. It was bad enough; she lied to herself. It couldn’t get any worse.

“What’s the matter?” Herbert asked, but his eyes were already on the screen.

“I had no idea Los Angeles had been nuked,” Darlene said quietly as footage began to roll.

“Neither did I, but looking at the date, it happened around the time Boston was attacked,” Herbert said.

“I didn’t want to tell you. I figured you’d both find out eventually. I only saw it a couple of days ago, me and Rosemary, but we thought you were so busy and in such good spirits....” Pheebz put her head down.

“It’s alright, dear. Perfectly understand why you wouldn’t want to burden us all with this too” Herbert said.

“That’s not all.” Darlene surfed the channels until she came upon a live shot from a news chopper. She wiped a tear away. “Chicago was nuked about an hour ago.”

T
he neighborhood stayed
on an alert vigil, everyone, that is, but Mike. He wholeheartedly believed in Pembroke’s words. He rested a fair majority of that night and the next day.

“It would have been nice to have your help out there,” Tynes said, coming in just as the sun was going down.

“You mean scraping the blood off the street? I left when I heard one of the idiots say that he wondered how much it was going to hurt the resale value in the neighborhood.”

Tynes opened up some Pop-Tart foil packets, and the two ate in silence, both lost in thoughts of what was going to happen in just a few short hours.

“I wonder if that was the best last meal I could have hoped for.”

“Last meal?” Tynes asked.

“I have a bad feeling. I’m not too thrilled about heading into the Guard stronghold. People get squirrelly when you mess with their food. And another thing that has me concerned is what Pembroke has in mind.” Mike reflected.

“What are you talking about?”

“We’re going in with a small force, right? Even if we somehow get a pallet jack and maneuver it around in the tunnels, how much food are we really going to get away with? Pembroke isn’t going to pull this job for a lousy couple of cases; I know the man. He’s in for it all. If he’s strong enough to stop the Demons, then he has an army, and if he has an army…”

“He needs to feed them.” Tynes answered.

“Exactly.”

“So what are we, then?”

“I’m thinking the vanguard.” Mike tipped his Pop-Tart packet to get the last crumbs.

“You think we’re leading an invasion force?” Tynes was concerned.

“I do. We’re going to open up the gates, and he’s going to pour his men in. And I don’t know what’s going to be worse, a pissed-off Guard or a victorious Pembroke.”

“He’ll have all that weaponry. Mike, we can’t let that happen.”

“Wee bit late.” Mike had gone to the window to see the approach of headlights. “Our chariot awaits.”

“We can run,” Tynes said doubtfully.

“Where we gonna go? He’ll unleash hell on this neighborhood you so valiantly want to defend.”

“They have nothing to do with it.”

“Yeah, that matters.” Mike said sarcastically.

“What do we do?”

“We do what we said we were going to do.”

“If we’re not going to do anything to stop his plan, then why in the hell did you bother telling me about it?”

“Why should I be the only one in on the fun?” Mike asked.

“And what do you think our friend is going to do with all this power should he come out on top?”

“What all megalomaniacs do. Seek more power.”

“What if we tipped the Guard?” Tynes wondered aloud.

“Well, their justice would be more swift, I suppose, but dead is dead. You ready to cash in your chips right now?”

“What have you got me involved in?”

“Hey man, I don’t have a crystal ball, and the Guard was your idea. We still need food. I’m about sick of foil packets, and I don’t think many of those folks out there are faring too much better. Can’t imagine too many of them are used to a Top Ramen and Pop-Tart diet.”

“One problem at a time.”

“That’s the spirit. Gear up, our ride is here.” Mike headed for the door.

Pembroke was not in the car, and the driver said nothing as Mike and Tynes got in.

“I’m new to the city. Do you know where we can get a good pastrami sandwich?” Mike asked. The driver grunted and pulled away. Thirty minutes later, they found themselves at Pembroke’s headquarters; he’d moved from his more humble surroundings to the Trump Tower.

“Holy shit,” Mike said when he stepped out and looked up the face of the skyscraper. Trucks of all kinds lined the streets in both directions.

“He’s waiting for you inside,” the driver motioned.

The lobby had some lights on and was full of men dressed in all manner of combat gear, most pieced together from personal collections; some was theirs, some had belonged to people they’d been liberated from.

“Guess you were right,” Tynes mumbled. “I was hoping you weren’t.”

“Me too. What floor is Pembroke on?” Mike asked the closest man, who seemed to be a mercenary. He had on a green cut-off t-shirt that exposed well-defined muscles, camouflage pants, and a red bandanna around his head, and he was chewing on a thick yellow straw. The man pulled out a knife nearly as long as his forearm. He had an Army wings tattoo that signified him as Airborne.

The man grunted.

“What’s the matter, man, they already have enough extras on the Full Metal Jacket 2 set?”

“Don’t do it, Chester. It ain’t worth it. The Man will string you up by the balls and make you cut them off to get down,” Juicy said from across the room.

“You’re lucky,” Chester snorted as he put his small sword away.

“Lucky? Have you seen my bodyguard?” Mike asked, flipping a thumb to Tynes. Chester’s eyes momentarily grew wide as he saw the man for the first time. “Juicy, my dear, lifelong friend, seems the apocalypse has been good to you. Did you get your hair cut?”

“I wish Pembroke would let me kill you.”

“Why is there so much hostility? I already told you I didn’t know that was your mom. How was I supposed to know you had a thing for her?”

Juicy flipped Mike off. “Top floor. Get your ass up there.”

“What is wrong with you, man?” Tynes asked as they stepped onto the elevator.

“Nerves.”

“So, a case of the jitters makes you want to get a bullet in the face?”

“At least I wouldn’t be so nervous anymore.”

“That’s one way of looking at it. Must have a hell of a generator going to power this building.” Tynes noted.

When they reached the sixty-eighth floor, they were met by a trio of guards pointing fully automatic weapons at them. Mike instinctually raised his hands; Tynes looked like he was going to rush them.

“Whoa there, man.” Mike grabbed Tynes arm. “Who has the death wish now?”

“Security...one can never be too careful,” they heard from inside the elevator. Mike poked his head out, seeing the camera and speaker. He waved. “Please, hand over your guns.”

Mike did so; Tynes did, but reluctantly.

“Relax, man, if he wanted us dead we would have never made it out of our house this morning.”

“My house.”

“That’s what I said. Lead on, Jeeves,” Mike told the guard now holding their guns.

They were led through the elevator foyer and onto the floor, which had been converted into the world’s largest office space and living quarters. The floor offered a three hundred sixty-degree view of the entire city.

“Wow.” Mike was genuinely awed as he took in the spectacular view. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Central Park like this.”

“I’m pleased you’re enjoying yourself.” Pembroke stood from a desk that must have taken a team of men to get into the building.

“What happened to the occupants of the building?” Tynes asked with a scowl.

“They were asked to leave...nicely, I might add.” Pembroke smiled.

“And those that didn’t?”

“They were asked to leave not so nicely. Relax, Officer Tynes, no one was harmed in the making of my dynasty.”

“Gotta say, I’m impressed. Much better than your old setup.” Mike walked around.

“I’m glad you like it. There’s still room for you up near the top, Mike.” Pembroke turned away from Tynes.

“I would, but me and the big guy have this thing, and I’d hate to disappoint him.”

“I could fix that.”

“I’m good, Pembroke, I’m good. You know I don’t play well with others. I’d end up being a thorn in your side, and I’d hate to have to clock my hang-time from this high.”

Pembroke laughed. “I have to admit, I was concerned with whether or not you two would show.”

“What’s with the mercs downstairs?” Tynes asked.

Pembroke did not beat around the bush. “I have decided to change the terms of our agreement. I don’t want some of the food, I want all of it.”

“The Guard isn’t just going to let you have it.”

Pembroke looked at Tynes. “I am well aware of that, officer. But the National Guard has proved themselves to be nothing but a plague upon the citizens of New York.”

“And you’re taking it upon yourself to rid us of this scourge?”

“See, now we understand each other.”

“What gives you the right?” Tynes asked, leaning on Pembroke’s enormous desk.

“The right? I’m merely a concerned citizen watching as a governmental force delivers justice without impunity, hoards resources meant for a suffering populace, then sits upon a throne, dictating its will upon those of us trying to lead as normal a life as possible given the circumstances.”

“Seems you’re doing all right.”

“I’m doing all right because I have the necessary resources to succeed, and with those very resources, I am going to improve the lives of hundreds, thousands, maybe more.”

“At what cost? Are you to become King of New York?”

“I was thinking more of a Lordship, but King Pembroke does have a certain “je ne sais quois”.

“The feds will send in the Armed Forces.”

“Perhaps they might have at one time, but I do not believe they will bother much with the coup of a city as far gone as this one. They’re about to have bigger problems. I can see by both of your expressions that you have no idea what I’m talking about. All their attention was diverted by the Yellowstone detonation, the cowardly attacks in Boston, California, and just today, Chicago, God rest their souls.” Mike noted that Pembroke did not look up as was traditional when uttering this phrase. The man continued. “However, these attacks are just the beginning. They were merely meant to soften this country up. As we sit here discussing the morality of ridding the city of the Guard rats, there is a multi-national force planning an invasion of what is left of the United States. They mean to carve up what remains to call their own.”

“Bullshit,” Tynes spat.

Pembroke went back to his desk and sat. “You naively think those bombs were isolated events? It’s been a month, Officer Tynes. Do you have any explanation as to why we have not seen any federal organization? Not FEMA, not even the Red Cross, nothing, not so much as one soldier. Besides the fact that men and women are deserting the Armed Forces in record numbers, even under the threat of death by firing squad, the federal government—what’s left of it, anyway—is attempting to pool all of her resources in a desperate, and ultimately destined to fail, attempt to thwart her enemies.”

“Is this true?” Mike looked from Tynes to Pembroke. “How can this be happening?”

“And what do you hope to gain, Mr. Pembroke, if we are indeed about to be invaded?”

“Simple enough. I want my piece of the pie. When I am in a position of power, I can negotiate.”

“And you just think the Russians are going to give you whatever you want?”

“North Koreans and Chinese, actually. They are, at least, the front-runners. The Chinese are taking a backseat, using their more volatile neighbor to the east as their spearhead. I believe they are waiting to see how the international community reacts. But that’s the thing, isn’t it? Nobody likes a winner, and the United States has been winning for over two hundred years. There will be protests, but in the end, new borders will be drawn all over our land.”

Mike sat down heavily. “I’ve been talking doom and gloom, but I always had hope in the back of my head that somehow, someway, things would return to normal. That’s all for shit, isn’t it?”

“It would appear that way, Michael,” Pembroke said almost tenderly.

“You falling for this shit, Mike?”

Mike had tears forming in the corners of his eyes. “Why would he lie? What’s the point?”

“He wants those barracks, dumbass. He wants those weapons.”

“And he concocted this whole story to ensure our help getting in? What, man? The threat of having your skull smashed in with a ball peen hammer not enough incentive?”

“Please, Michael, I would never do anything so crude. You’ve earned at least a quick and merciful death. Bullet to the back of the head perhaps.”

“I guess thanks for that.”

“I can assure you, Officer Tynes, with or without your help, I can gain access to and take that Guard barracks. More men will die on both sides if we do it my way, however, and your community will get none of the food. The choice is yours.”

“Plus, we die, Tynes.”

“Plus, you die,” Pembroke reiterated.

“You really think you can negotiate with an invading force?” Tynes asked, seeing the losing argument he was fighting.

“You let me worry about that.”

“We do this, we get the food, and we get the hell out of the city. Maybe even the country.” Mike intoned.

“The borders are closed.”

“I have no desire to go to Mexico.”

“Canada as well.”

“Fucking Canada is closed? The world is ending.” Mike tossed his head back. “Tynes, I don’t want to die in the penthouse suite of the Trump Tower.”

“It’s Pembroke Pavilion now,” Pembroke clarified. “And don’t be silly, I wouldn’t have you killed up here. That’s a priceless Persian you’re standing on.”

“Tynes?” Mike saw his friend’s arms flex and relax as he weighed the odds of rushing the three men and disarming them before getting either of them wounded or killed.

“When this is over, are we free to leave?” Tynes asked.

“Certainly, I’m not running a dictatorship.”

Tynes thought he’d seen more sincere faces on used-car salesmen, but pointing that out could get him a bullet in the kneecap...or worse. He wisely chose to keep it to himself.

“Looks like we have a raid to lead.”

“Splendid, I was concerned for your wellbeing.”

“Don’t even start with me,” Mike said as they got in the elevator. “You know we need that food. The grocery stores are cleaned out, and unless you want to try and grow some turnips down in the park, this is the best way.”

The elevator doors opened. Mike almost stepped back; Tynes moved forward. “Murkediem,” they said at the same time. The leader of the D Street Demons strode toward them. He was nearly as tall as Tynes though half the width. He wore a leather vest emblazoned with the signature “D” embellished with horns. He had so many tears tattooed on his face that it looked like he’d been caught in a particularly nasty acid rain storm. Each tattoo signified a kill he had chalked up. It was rumored that the first tear was for his mother after she’d tried to keep him from joining the gang long ago.