Casey’s face flushed red. “Well, enough with the introductions, we’d best be on our way.” He put the truck into gear and the big-rig crept forward.
*******
The eighteen-wheeler hit a pothole in the road, waking Lex from a dream he would’ve preferred to finish. He sat up straight in the passenger seat and stretched his arms, letting out a huge yawn.
“Did you sleep well?” asked Casey, one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding a bottle of water.
“Remarkably well,” answered Lex. He turned around and pulled back one of the curtains, separating the sleeping quarters from the front of the cab. A few hours ago Casey had reluctantly stopped so that Shannon and the children could move to the trailer, after the children had expressed unending concern over the wellbeing of their animals in the back. Now, Cleo and Beth were curled up on the bed next to each other, a blanket wrapped snuggly around them. “I see they’re still fast asleep.”
“They haven’t made a sound since we stopped awhile back,” replied Casey. “It’s a good thing I found you when I did.”
“Why is that?” asked Lex, mildly curious.
“Enemy troops have landed in Seattle and are pushing their way south into Oregon,” answered Casey. “In another day or two Washington and Oregon will both be behind enemy lines. That’s why I’m getting out, while there’s still time.”
“Where are you gonna go?”
“I’m not sure yet. But when I saw the nuclear missiles flying overhead and the troops landing on the beaches, I knew it was time to leave. I barely had enough time to load my truck, before the looting and killing started. Not to mention, I wasn’t really planning on having Shannon and her children as stowaways.”
“I was wondering how you two met,” said Lex. “Can’t turn away strays, huh?” he added, laughing. “Well I’m sure you’d be welcome in Clearview.”
“Thanks,” smiled Casey. “I might take you up on that offer, at least for a little while. What’s the significance of this town anyway?”
“It’s just a small town in northern Nevada, where I met some good people. They’ve become close friends.”
“A man can always use a good friend,” agreed Casey.
“What are you hauling this time, more gasoline?”
“No,” laughed Casey. “I’m hauling a trailer full of guns and ammunition.”
“You’re kidding,” exclaimed Lex. “Where did you get it all?”
“I found an ammo depot abandoned by the military,” replied Casey. “Waste not, want not, right? Besides, if I’d left any, the enemy would’ve confiscated it. The last thing I want is for those bastards to use our own guns and ammo against us. So I took it,” he added, shrugging his shoulders.
“All of it?”
“No, I couldn’t carry it all.”
“What did you do with the rest?”
“I blew it up,” said Casey, “but not before an enemy patrol entered the building to search it,” he added, with a wink.
“Good for you,” said Lex. “To be perfectly honest we could use some guns and ammo back in Clearview. “You’re gonna be greeted like a long lost hero when we arrive.”
“I like that,” grinned Casey. As he peered into the fog ahead, his grin faded to a frown.
“What is it?” asked Lex, following Casey’s gaze and immediately alert. “What’s wrong?”
“Looks like a checkpoint,” replied Casey, slowing the truck’s approach. “What do you think?”
“Bring us in slow,” advised Lex, “and stop the truck at least twenty yards from the soldiers.” He spun around and yanked the curtains back, “Rise and shine ladies!”
Beth merely yawned and rolled over, falling back to sleep almost immediately. Lex didn’t want to disturb his mother if he didn’t have to. She was still sick and needed all the sleep she could get.
“What’s happening?” asked Cleo, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
“We’re coming up on a checkpoint,” explained Lex, “look alive.”
Cleo immediately sprang into action, grabbing a gun and tossing another to Lex. She rose from the bed, careful not to wake Beth, then turned and draped the blanket over the older woman’s frail body. Ejecting the clip in the gun she was holding, she checked to ensure it was loaded, before grabbing another gun and repeating the process. “How many of them are there?” she asked.
“I don’t know yet,” answered Lex, his eyes focused on the vehicles blocking the road. “Stop the truck.”
Casey pressed down on the brakes and brought the truck to a stop. “Now what?” he asked, as two men armed with automatic machineguns approached the vehicle.
“Now we wait,” replied Lex. “Cleo, no matter what happens stay with my mom.”
“No worries love,” she said, smiling reassuringly. Cleo chambered a round in her gun, before fading into the shadows and out of sight, pulling the curtains closed behind her.
Casey rolled down his window and reached for the keys to turn off the engine.
“Wait,” said Lex, “don’t kill it, leave it running.”
The first soldier stopped at Casey’s door, while the second continued walking to the rear of the truck, inspecting the trailer for God knows what.
“Hello,” said the first soldier. “Where are you fellas headed?”
“Howdy,” replied Casey. “We’re headed east.”
“East where?” asked the soldier, glancing toward the rear of the truck, where his buddy had suddenly disappeared.
“Haven’t quite decided yet,” said Casey. “Any suggestions?”
“What are you hauling?”
“Farm equipment,” replied Casey. “We didn’t want it to fall into enemy hands and figured there’d be a market for it in the Midwest.”
“I see,” said the soldier. “Are you carrying and food, water, medicine, guns or ammo?” he asked, as if he’d repeated the question a hundred times?
“Nope,” smiled Casey, “just the farm equipment.”
As the fog slowly disintegrated, Lex noticed a dozen or so men standing behind the roadblock ahead. They were heavily armed and appeared to be waiting for some type of signal.
“Are you guy’s part of Major Conrad’s convoy?” asked Lex.
“No,” answered the man in uniform. “We’re part of Colonel Striker’s unit.”
“Oh, I see,” replied Lex, sensing something was amiss. In the past, he’d made a living out of hustling people and could almost always tell when someone was lying.
“Are you two alone?”
“We sure are,” said Casey, hoping to smooth talk his way out of an inspection. He’d spent enough time smuggling to know the best way to deflect someone’s questions, was by asking some of your own. “I don’t suppose you can tell us where we’d find a saloon?”
“I need you fellas to climb down and open the trailer,” said the soldier, ignoring Casey’s attempt at small talk.
“Why?” asked Lex.
“So we can verify your cargo,” declared the soldier, angry at being questioned.
“Sure,” smiled Casey, resting his hand on the door handle. “You know I’ve always wondered, what does Semper Fidelis stand for?”
“How the hell should I know,” spat the soldier.
“Because it’s the Marine motto, isn’t it?” asked Casey, in the same friendly tone.
“Oh,” said the soldier, beads of sweat running down his forehead, “of course. Well, um,” he stammered nervously, “it means to, um, be prepared.”
“It really means always faithful,” said Casey, swinging the door open and knocking the man to the ground. He swung the door shut and slammed his foot down on the gas.
Lex glanced in the side mirror and saw the second soldier lying face down in the middle of the road. Jesse’s head suddenly appeared from the rear of the trailer. He smiled and waved, before ducking back inside, a split second before the big-rig smashed into the blockade of vehicles. Bullets peppered the side of the truck, as several machineguns roared to life.
Several of the men left behind scrambled into Humvees and fell into pursuit. From out of nowhere six dirt bikes suddenly appeared, taking positions on either side of the truck. The bikers withdrew small machineguns and opened fire on the eighteen-wheeler.
“What are we gonna do?” asked Casey, the whites of his eyes visible in the fading light.
“Just keep going,” instructed Lex, “and no matter what, don’t slow down!” He glanced in the side mirror and saw three bikers speeding up alongside the trailer. Without saying a word, he reached over and grabbed hold of the steering wheel, yanking it to the right. The truck suddenly swayed, knocking two of the assailants from their bikes.
“Good idea!” Casey turned the wheel hard to the left. He felt a small thud, as another biker went tumbling to the ground.
“Nice shot,” said Lex.
“They’re trying to climb aboard,” Cleo cried out, emerging from the back of the cab. “Keep zigzagging back and forth so they can’t get on!”
“I’m trying,” shouted Casey. “Hey, where are you going?” he asked, when Lex swung the passenger door open.
“I’ll be right back,” said Lex, before climbing onto the roof of the cab, with a gun tucked behind his belt. He carefully crawled into a crouched position and was about to leap to the trailer, when he noticed one of the assailants on his knees behind the cab. The man had jumped from one of the Humvees and was trying desperately to disconnect the trailer. Lex jumped down and landed on the man’s back, kicking him as hard as he could. His foot struck the man square in the face and sent him falling backwards off the truck.
Lex quickly scaled the trailer and found another man walking toward him. The man was crouched and proceeding slowly, with the truck rocking back and forth. Lex could see an evil grin on the man’s face, as he withdrew a long, jagged knife from within his coat. Lex braced himself, his legs spread wide for balance. The man lunged when he was only a couple of feet away, jabbing at Lex’s stomach with the knife.
Lex jumped back, narrowly avoiding the sharp blade. He dropped to his knees and almost fell between the cab and the trailer. The man followed and swung the blade down, aiming for Lex’s head. In the same instant, Lex reached out and grabbed the man’s ankle. He yanked as hard as he could and the man fell, landing on his back with a loud thump.
Lex quickly scrambled to his feet. He reached for the gun tucked behind his belt, only to discover it was gone. Glancing around, he frantically searched for the missing weapon and found it lying on the roof of the trailer, a few feet behind his assailant. He took a step forward, as the man slowly climbed to his feet, the jagged knife still gripped in his hand.
The man smiled at Lex and hissed, “I’m gonna gut you boy!”
Lex smiled, “Do your worst!”
The man lunged, holding the knife low.
Lex grabbed the man’s wrist and fell backwards, pulling his assailant forward and off balance. He pressed his foot against the man’s chest and sent him sailing. Once again the man landed with a thump on the trailer, only this time he landed behind Lex and was a lot slower getting up.
Lex sprang to his feet like a cat chasing its prey and advanced on the man. He was only a few feet away when one of the Humvees slammed into the side of the truck, causing the trailer to sway violently. He tumbled to his stomach and slid halfway across the trailer. Lex felt a hard metallic lump beneath him and realized he’d landed on top of his gun. Rolling onto his back, he found the man with the knife standing over him, smiling down with broken yellow teeth.
The man raised the knife above his head and was about to bring it down, when Lex rolled to his side and shot the man twice in the chest. Two crimson dots appeared on the man’s shirt and began to grow in size. He dropped the knife and fell to his knees, clawing at his chest, before slumping over onto his stomach. Lex bent down beside the man and was about to roll him off the trailer, when he was attacked from behind.
An unknown attacker suddenly wrapped his arm around Lex’s neck and began to squeeze. Lex grabbed the assailant’s arm and tumbled forward, flipping the man onto his back. The man leapt to his feet and jabbed Lex in the face, followed by an uppercut to the stomach. Lex fell to his knees, grasping his belly in pain. He looked up and discovered that he was staring down the barrel of a gun. An evil grin spread across the man’s face, as he squeezed the trigger.
Both men were shocked when the gun misfired, but Lex was the first to react. He flung himself onto his back, kicking out with both legs at the same time. His feet caught the assailant in the chest, knocking him backward and off the trailer. Lex felt a small bump, as the eighteen-wheeler rolled over the man’s body.
He jumped to his feet and spun around in time to see Cleo hanging from the passenger door. Using her lips, she pulled the pin from the grenade in her hand and tossed it high into the air. The grenade landed on the pavement and rolled a few feet, before exploding beneath one of the Humvees. The rear of the Humvee jettisoned into the air, flipping the vehicle upside down and sending it sliding off the road. Cleo smiled and blew Lex a kiss, before disappearing into the cab.
The trailer suddenly swerved, as Casey smashed into the remaining Humvee. Lex stumbled and fell to one knee. Careful not to fall, he glanced over the side of the trailer and counted three remaining bikers in addition to the Humvee. One of the bikers pulled up alongside Casey’s door and was about to shoot, when Cleo popped out of the driver’s window, gun in hand. She shot the biker in the helmet at point blank, before once again disappearing into the cab.