The City Burns: A Prepper's Struggle for The Truth (5 page)

“Fugitives on the run. My mom would be so proud,” said Coyle.

Twink put the truck in drive and drove off towards the falling sun as a different orange glow began to spread across downtown Phoenix behind them.

 

Chapter 4

 

Jim used a pair of binoculars and didn’t see any movement on the ground. The most activity he saw were some troops sent to escort a group of firefighters into the city, which was a full blaze of fury in the distance.

 

The smoke from the fires blanketed the night sky and the glow from the flames washed over the desert in an unearthly orange tinge. Jim climbed back down the dune to where they were camped. Brett and Twink did an inventory of what ammo and supplies they had left while Annie sat curled in a ball in Samantha’s lap. Annie looked up at her mom and asked when they could go home.

 

“I don’t know, sweetheart,” she responded. But she knew. She knew the fires would reach their home on the outskirts of the city. It was too big now. It was becoming its own entity. Annie buried her head further into her mother’s leg. “I hope daddy and Tigs are okay,” Annie whispered. “Shhh. They’re fine, baby. They’re fine,” she answered.

 

Jim walked over to Coyle who was leaned up against the wheel of the truck with his eyes half closed. Jim slid down next to him. “How are you doing?” Jim asked. “I could use some of that mush right about now,” Coyle half mumbled. Jim smiled and put his arm around him. Then Coyle thought for a moment. “Actually, I think I’d still hate it.”

 

Jim rested his head back on the metal siding of the truck. The glow from the fires rose up above the dunes. The shadows from the city danced across his face. He wondered how many died for some mad man’s search for power.

 

“I can see why you got out,” Coyle said. “It’s a very high risk.”

Jim kept his eyes on the glow in the distance like he was transfixed. “That’s not why I got out.” Coyle tilted his head towards him. “Why then?”

“I joined the Navy because my father was branded a coward. I thought it was my duty to join and restore what pride I had to my family’s name,” Jim responded.

 

Coyle looked confused. “That’s why you got in, but why’d you leave?”

Jim paused a moment before he answered. “The same reason,” he answered.

Jim and Brett found a spot in between two dunes and dug out three trenches about six feet in length and three feet wide. They piled the sand on three sides of each of the trenches a foot and a half high. Brett and Twink had some ponchos in their packs and Jim used them to cover each of the trenches for protection from the sun. Brett, Twink, and Jim would sleep there while Coyle, Annie, and Samantha slept in the truck.

 

It was early morning when Jim finally awoke. One glance at the smoke blackened sky told him that the firemen weren’t able to stop the blaze. Twilight from the morning daybreak sparkled on the desert sand as bits of light struggled to shine through the thick smoke in the sky. Jim brushed the sand out of his hair and it fell to his lap and onto his shoulders. Brett and Twink were still snoring in their sand beds. Samantha and Annie were still and asleep in the backseat of the truck. Coyle was propped up in the passenger seat with his mouth hanging open and drooling.

 

Suddenly, he felt the hard iron of a pistol to the back of his skull. “You’re getting easier to sneak up on, Farr.” Hult had his 9mm pistol with his finger on the trigger. Four more of his men tore the ponchos off Brett and Twink’s shelter before they could wake and disarmed them with rifles pointed at their heads.

 

Jim’s head tilted forward as Hult pressed the barrel harder into his skull. “For your sake I hope you found what you were looking for.” Hult grabbed the firearm at Jim’s side and backed off slightly.

 

“Do you have it?” Hult asked.

 

“Have what?” Jim replied. Hult kept his pistol pointed at him while Jim’s hung in his other hand.  “Turn around,” Hult ordered.

 

Jim kept his hands in the air and slowly turned his body to face him. Hult’s men pulled Twink and Brett out of the truck bed and dislodged Coyle, Annie, and Samantha from inside the cab. Hult had his men line them up to where Jim could see them. All the while keeping the pistol steadily aimed at him.

 

“You really are a fucking pain in my ass you know that?” Hult said.

Twink and Brett’s eyes went from Jim to Hult as the two stared each other down. Annie started to cry and Samantha held her close. Coyle sat dry mouthed as Hult’s men hovered behind them. Then, without any explanation or warning Hult clicked the safety on. He lowered his pistol and holstered it. He took Jim’s gun dropped the magazine out, cleared the chamber, and tossed it back to him, though he kept the magazine.

“We need to talk,” Hult said. “Boys?” He motioned over to his men who lowered their weapons. Coyle kept his hands over his head even after the men walked in front of him.

 

“Is this a trap?” Coyle asked. “Cuz it feels like a trap.”

Jim looked as confused as Coyle did. “What is this?” he asked.

“This?” Hult looked around at the group in front of him. “This is my mission,” he said.

“Locke told me to keep an eye on you and make sure you and the girls where safe. He thought there was a high level leak,” said Hult, “How do you think you got to speak to Matt by yourself without any guards listening in?” he continued, “Who do you think the guard called when you were leaving the camp?”

 

Coyle’s hands dropped from his head to his sides. “You were helping us all this time? Jesus,” Coyle looked over at Jim, “You tried to kill him.” Which reminds me.” Hult threw a huge right cross into Jim’s face that knocked him on the ground. Jim wiped the blood from his lip and Hult extended his hand to help him up. Jim grabbed it and he stood up. “Now, we’re even,” Hult said. He looked at him as if nothing happened. “So, what’s next?” he asked.

 

Jim told him what Matt had said about the drive and how he could trace it. They all agreed that trying to get Matt out of the camp wasn’t going to happen, especially now that Hult had told him about Locke’s fear of a mole. And with Phoenix burning behind them they wouldn’t be able to get him back to his office to run the program anyway. Matt would have to do it from the camp.

 

“One of the guards is Locke’s man. We can sneak Matt out when it’s his shift and get him over to a station to do what he needs to do and find the bastards that did all of this,” Hult said. Jim looked to Twink and Brett who both agreed. Jim looked back over to Hult whose ash smeared face squinted in the sunlight that was fighting through the smoky sky above them.

 

“How do we get back in?” Jim asked.

 

“They think I’m out looking for you. Give me the drive and I’ll keep two of my men here with you. I’ll tell them that I couldn’t find you and get the drive to Matt tonight,” Hult replied.

 

Jim shook his head. “No, we don’t know who’s involved with this and if you get caught you’ll need all of the support you can get,” Jim said.

“You lost three men when the looters attacked,” Jim’s voice became a little softer once the words left his mouth. “Brett, Twink, and I will come in with you.”

It was settled. Coyle would stay back with Samantha and Annie while the rest of them went back to the camp to get Matt the drive and find the source of the orders. Jim himself would come back to get the girls and Coyle once it was safe. If he didn’t return before tomorrow, or he was killed, then one of Hult’s men or Twink or Brett would come back with a safe word that only the group knew. They would then take the truck and head back to the refugee camp immediately to let Locke know what happened.

 

Hult and his men had hotwired two sedans from the garage after they had lost the armored trucks they had when they were in the city. Jim opened the doors of the sedan and brushed empty coffee cups off the back seat and onto the sand. Brett sat in the passenger seat, while Twink joined Jim in the back. Hult drove while the rest of his men piled in the other car. “Jesus,” Brett said as he picked up a fistful of paper wrappers. “How many Starbucks breakfast sandwiches can one man eat?”

 

As the cars got back onto the main road they headed for the expressway that would take them around the outskirts of the city. It was here Jim saw just how huge the fire had become. When he was in school, Jim remembered hearing about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 and how it wreaked havoc on the districts of the city, killing hundreds and causing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of damage.

 

He wondered if this is what people saw on the outskirts of Chicago that day. Fires rising into the sky as flames engulfed buildings, cars, and people. How could an entire city just burn like that? Then again, just a few weeks ago Jim thought a Naval base could never be leveled on American soil. He was experiencing a lot of things he thought could never happen.

 

It only took them about twenty minutes to get back to the base from where they were at in the dunes. Jim was right about them not checking who they were, although the guards at the gate did a thorough inspection of the vehicles. Hult brought Jim, Twink, and Brett back to his tent along with his men. Hult left to check on Locke’s man to see when his shift would start.

 

Jim’s leg bounced up and down nervously as he waited for him to come back. Twink and Brett scarfed down some MREs Hult’s men had tossed them, but Jim wasn’t hungry.

Coyle leaned on the front driver side of the truck while Samantha and Annie sat inside.

 

“When will I get to see daddy again?” Annie asked.

 

“Uncle Jim is getting him right now,” Samantha replied.

Annie jumped from her mother’s lap and gasped. Samantha grabbed her shoulders. “What’s wrong, baby?” Annie looked at her mother with fear in her eyes. “We forgot to tell Uncle Jim to get Tigs!”

 

Samantha let out a sigh and smiled. “I’m sure Jim will remember to bring Tigs with him, Annie. You don’t have to worry about her.” The tent flaps flew open as Hult entered. “He goes on in an hour,” he said. “He’s got watch for four hours, and halfway through, Matt’s scheduled for a bathroom break. We’ll get him to a computer station then.”

 

“Where’s the station at?” Jim asked.

“There won’t be a crew in the report stations outside his holding cell. We can put him on a computer there. I’ll keep watch outside while he’s in there,” Hult said.

“I’ll be outside with you,” Jim said.

“Farr, it’s too risky,” Hult replied.

“I got the drive,” Jim continued, “Locke made this my mission. I’ll see it through.”

“What if somebody sees you?” Brett asked. “Hult’s supposed to have not found you remember?”

 

“Nobody recognized me when I came through the front gate. I’ll just make sure I keep some extra gear on while I’m out,” Jim said. Annie had fallen asleep. Samantha peeled her arm off of the hot leather and slid out the door quietly. Coyle was still leaning up against the truck when she got out.

 

“I’m really beginning to hate the desert,” Coyle said. He took a swig from the cantina and passed it to Samantha. She didn’t say anything as she rested her head back on the window and passed the bottle back to Coyle. He could feel her worry. “It’ll be fine. Despite my jokes, Jim’s actually pretty good at what he does,” Coyle reassured her.

 

“Being a marine mechanic?” she replied.

“No, I still think he’s terrible at that,” he said. That got a small smile out of her.

Coyle’s voice became very soft as he spoke. “He got me out of San Diego alive. He saved a half dozen people along the way and, despite a few setbacks here, has kept us going since we’ve arrived here.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “He’ll bring Matt back.”

 

She nodded. “I know.”

Jim paced around the tent as he checked his watch. Brett was sharpening his blade with a whetstone. The slow, precise movement of the stone in his hand made a rhythm that sounded throughout the tent. Jim glanced back down at his watch. “Checking it every five seconds won’t make it tick by any faster, Jim,” Brett drawled. Jim stopped. He found a seat and dropped himself in it. He leaned forward onto his elbows and rubbed his hands with his face.

 

Brett frowned and paused while sharpening his blade. “What are you worried about? We have the drive. We have a plan. All we have to do now is sit back and let the computer nerd do his thing,” Brett said. He picked the stone back up and restarted his sharpening of the blade.  “What if we’re wrong?” Jim glanced around the tent for any of Hult’s men. They weren’t there. “What if Locke’s in on it?” Jim said. Brett threw him a look of “c’mon man.”

 

“I’m serious, Brett,” he replied. “Locke doesn’t trust anyone here at this base? Anyone? What if this is all just a ploy to cover up his tracks?” Brett stopped sharpening his blade. “If Locke wanted us dead then Hult would have done it out in the dunes when he had the chance. He wouldn’t have brought us back here if he was in on it.”

 

Samantha started to laugh. Coyle went on with his story and was holding back a smile. “I’m serious. I ran through the entire dormitory butt ass naked screaming that I was the Duke of Snatch.” He paused a moment to ponder. “Surprisingly enough I wasn’t very popular with the ladies that year.” Coyle shook his head as he continued. “I shouldn’t have had that fifteenth beer.”

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