Red the First (21 page)

“
What was in the note that
was so dang important?” Nate asked.

“
A two mile long
underground tunnel leads from inside that barn down to the
Galatians Bunker, our point of destination. There’s another
entrance near I-90, beneath a billboard for Rainbow Brand baby
food. The billboard’s metal post is actually part of the
entrance.”

“
Aliens and government
conspiracies,” said Nate. “Surreal, Bossman.”

“
Are you sure the bunker
exists?” Doc asked.

“
Elizabeth and I checked it
out ourselves. The general wasn’t crazy after all.”

“
Let’s hope they got the
sock,” Doc said.

“
It’s all we can
do.”

“
What about us?” Blanche
asked. “How are we going to get inside?”

Red checked out the countdown clock:
Current time: 3:30 a.m. Two-and-a-half hours remained. Taking into
account moving the injured, the elderly, and the little children
into the bunker, that was cutting it close. Plus, Elizabeth had the
only key capable of starting the nuclear launch and she was trapped
outside. According to General Moore’s notes, there were bunkers
located on almost every continent. The generalwas taking care of
the ones in the United States and Canada, but he didn’t know the
precise locations of those across the oceans. Nor did he know their
current status. At least five of those twenty-four bunkers had to
turn keys though. Maybe it wouldn’t matter if the Galatians Bunker
had a key, but what if it did? What if the nukes failed to launch
and the aliens didn’t die? Where would that leave the people in the
bunkers?

He remembered the line of hovercrafts
near the road. If they could steal a couple more they’d be set.
Nate went on ahead to see if the coast was clear, but came back a
few minutes later wearing a grim expression.

“
Looks impossible. There’s
twenty Celeruns just standing there screwing around.”

“
Screwing around? What,
they’re just messing around with the hovercrafts or
something?”

“
I can’t be sure, but I
think they’re having a big org—“ He glanced at Michael and cleared
his throat. “Jeee-uice.”

“
Orange juice?” Doc said in
his Indian accent. “Of all things to drink—why orange
juice?”

“
He means they’re
copulating,” Red said.

“
Oh!” Doc’s eyebrows pushed
up. “I see.”

“
What’s copulating?”
Michael asked, but the adults pretended they hadn’t heard
him.

“
There’s no way we can
steal one without being spotted,” Nate reiterated. “This means
there are six of us and only the two hovercrafts that Bossman and
me pilfered.”

“
Two of us need to stay
here as a distraction,” Red said. “Because once Hewego makes its
exit through the secret door, the barn is going to get really
quiet, and the Celeruns are going to get really suspicious. We
can’t risk them snooping around the barn and finding the entrance
before lockdown.”

“
I’ll stay,” Doc
immediately volunteered.

“
That’s mighty brave of
you,” Red said. “But as a physician, your services will be needed
in the bunker.”

Red was glad when Elizabeth didn’t
volunteer. He didn’t need that argument and it was out of the
question anyway.

“
I’ll stay,” Blanche
volunteered, but Nate stepped in.

“
No you won’t,” Nate said.
“It’s a man’s duty to stay.”

“
That’s ridiculous,
especially since I’m a better shot than you,” Blanche
retorted.

“
There’s more to being a
man than being a good shot,” Nate pointed out. “I couldn’t live
with myself if I let my future wife fight in my place.”

“
Your…uh…future wife?” Her
bottom lip trembled, and tears welled up in her eyes. “Are you
saying what I think you’re saying?”

He got down on one knee without
hesitation. He took her hands in his and met her gaze, sincerity
shining in his eyes. “I don’t know what the future holds, or how
long that future will be, but wherever it leads, I want my future
to begin and end with you. I love you and you are so very hot.
Blanche, will you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Nathan
Steelsun?”

Elizabeth clapped her hands and
squealed. Red glanced over at Doc, who was blubbering and dabbing
his eyes on a sleeve. Good grief.

“
Yes,” Blanche jumped into
his arms. “I will marry you.” They embraced each other, sharing a
long and steamy kiss.

Red felt his chest tighten. Didn’t
these kids understand that Nate had just volunteered for a suicide
mission? Their marriage would never happen. It killed Red inside to
think about accepting Nate’s sacrifice, but he was the only choice.
Time to break up the happy engagement.

“
We need to get moving,”
Red’s voice came out more gruffly than he’d planned. He avoided
looking at the young couple as they walked, hand-in-hand, a few
steps behind the others. Red led the group toward the hovercrafts
hidden in the weeds alongside the road.

“
Under different
circumstances, I’d love to own one of these.” Red said, helping
Elizabeth onto the first hovercraft, trying to put her at ease. Her
hands were visibly shaking. “They ride so smooth it’s like skating
on ice.” He ushered Doc in behind her.

“
Have your gun ready,” he
told Doc. “My wife will be driving, so you’ll have to do the
shooting.” He quickly showed Elizabeth the buttons on the
windshield, and gave her a crash course in using the
controls.

Michael’s face lit up when Red ushered
him into the driver’s seat of the second craft. “You mean I get to
drive?”

“
Yep.”

“
Awesome!”

Red had taught Michael to drive a car,
so he knew the boy could handle himself behind the wheel of the
hovercraft. Besides, if a fight broke out along the way, Blanche
needed to be free to use her gun or her ‘charismatic muscle if
needed.

“
Follow your mother to the
billboard and do whatever she tells you.”

“
What about Zena?” Michael
said, tearfully glancing over the field.

“
I’ll keep my eye out for
her.” Red said in all honesty. The thought of leaving his dog
behind tore him up inside.

“
I’m sure she’s in the
barn,” Elizabeth said, as much to Red as to Michael. “Your friends
love that dog almost as much as you do. I’m sure they’ll look after
her.”

“
Michael,” Red squeezed his
son’s shoulder. “In my absence, you’re the man of the family.
Promise me you’ll look after your mother and little brother or
sister until I come back.”

“
I promise, Dad. But why
can’t you come with us?”

“
If things get too quiet,
the Celeruns will storm the barn. When they don’t find anyone
inside of it, they’ll check every nook and cranny, and there’s a
chance they’ll find the secret door, so we can’t let that happen.
Nate and I will stay long enough to keep it interesting. That will
buy some time before the launch.”

“
What launch?” Michael
asked.

“
Yeah, what launch?” Blanche
wanted to know, but nobody answered.

Elizabeth handed Red her
semi-automatic.

“
You keep it,” he said
pushing it back.

“
I have an extra.” She
lifted up the back of her shirt to show a handgun.

“
I’m sorry about my
reaction to the baby news,” Red said. “I’m glad. I really
am.”

“
I know you’re not,” she
said. “But I appreciate you pretending for my sake.”

“
There’s no fooling a mind
reader like you, Elizabeth.”

“
I haven’t been able to
read your mind for months now,” she confessed.

“
Why didn’t you tell
me?”

“
I dunno...maybe I thought
it kept you from trying to hide your feelings from me.”

He thought about it a moment, and
replied, “Then I something really important to tell
you.”

“
Yes?”

“
When the world was at its
darkest, you became my light,” he said, and really meant it this
time. “I love you.”

Elizabeth’s delicate fingers caressed
the outline of his jaw. If she could still read his mind, she would
know that he didn’t expect to see the inside of that bunker. He
sensed that she knew him so well, she didn’t need
charisma
to see his many regrets. A lesser woman would have begged him to
return to the bunker with her. Not his lovely and strong Elizabeth.
She knew nothing could deter him from doing this and she wasn’t
going to make it any harder on him than it already was.

“
We had a good run,” she
said. “Didn’t we?”

God, she looked more beautiful than
ever under the moonlight. A single tear glistened down her cheek.
He pulled her close. They shared a long kiss. As he let go, Michael
began to sing the song from this last evening’s Mass,
“I fear no
foe, with Thee at hand to bless; Ills have no weight, and tears no
bitterness; Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory. I
triumph still, if Thou abide with me.”

Red’s soul stirred with an impossible
blend of resignation and hope. He wasn’t good at this mushy stuff,
so he stood back, dumbly shoving hands into pants pockets.
Elizabeth’s dark eyes lingered over his face as if she was trying
to commit every detail to memory. She gave a mysterious smile to
rival the beauty and depth of the Mona Lisa. “You’ll always be my
hero, Red Wakeland.”

She twisted the hovercraft’s handle,
and sped off, taking their unborn child with her. Doc glanced back,
holding up a hand in salute. Michael followed behind them. The boy
had given him a second chance at being the kind of father he had
always wanted to be. For that he would always be grateful. Blanche
sat behind Michael, looking back at them, blonde hair blowing in
the wind, holding up one hand in a perpetual wave until they faded
into the horizon.

“
Godspeed,” Red said, voice
breaking. Nate patted him on the back.

“
Don’t worry, Bossman.
They’re gonna make it. So are we.”

Chapter 21

Oil lamps and matches were found
stored inside the barn, and the adults lit them gingerly, placing
them on areas swept clear of straw. The lamps gave off just enough
light to keep the children from Hewego and Last Haven calm. Bales
of straw were stacked high in hope of keeping any stray Celerun
laser blasts from finding a human target. Fire was still a big
concern, but what else could they do?

They’d been trapped inside the barn for
hours. Most people were nodding off, when a little girl from Last
Haven pointed out something most peculiar. Veronica aimed her
flashlight at it to get a better look. A long tube sock, weighted
with something in the toe and tied into a bow, was floating near
the rafters. The adults held a quick debate as to whether this
could be a Celerun trick. Farmer Morningside ended the debate by
snatching the sock out of the air with a rake. He rejoined them
behind the hay shelter. Everybody huddled close as he untied the
sock.

“
There’s a note.” Everyone
inched closer. “From the mayor. It’s his handwriting. He wrote it
with a pen—I can feel the indentations.”

He passed around the note to let
everyone read the instructions.

“
Wow,” said Veronica. “Now I
feel terrible about being so rude to General Moore.”

“
No use crying over spilt
whisky,” said Farmer Morningside. “Everybody remember the lock
code?”

“
1-14-4-25-9-11,” Veronica
said. “I have a head for numbers.”

“
New Years, Valentine’s Day,
Independence Day, Christmas, Emergency,” Father Bob said. “He made
it easy enough to remember.”

They tore up the paper when they were
all done reading it, as per instructions, and each chewed up and
swallowed a scrap of the paper.

“
Needs salt,” Farmer
Morningside complained.

Some of the men took positions near the
doors and windows, sending out a spray of gunshots toward the
fields, to warn off any exposed Celeruns. That led to a volley of
lasers, and more gunshots. While that was going on, the rest of
Hewego and Last Haven lined up in front of the stall marked with a
verse from the bible.

There is
neither Jew nor Greek: there is neither bond
nor free: there is neither male nor female. For you are all
one in Christ Jesus. ~
Galatians
3:28

Farmer Morningside found the huge trap
door, several men pulled it open, and ushered everyone down the
steep ramp. When the last person in the barn had gone through, they
descended too, shutting the trap door behind them.

Chapter 22

Stars glittered like diamonds over the
velvety blue horizon. Red and Nate inched through the weeds closer
to the barn, firing intermittent shots at the alien invaders.
Hopefully, the acoustics of the undulating farmland would make any
sound difficult to pinpoint.