| General Fiction posted March 25, 2014 | Chapters: |
...27 28 -29- 30... 
|
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Tense moments as Carlos greets American soldiers.
A chapter in the book Yosemite
New Friends & Who's The Enemy
by michaelcahill
| Background Survivors attempt to meld a community out of a world in chaos. Leaders emerge and challenges are met. Who is the enemy? |
Previously, it became clear that too much democracy was not a good thing. Johnny established control over the camp as a necessity of survival. Organization continued with most people on board with Johnny and his people in charge. He had proven to be fair and wise in his dealings. American soldiers were spotted approaching their position. They appeared to have come from one or more battles. Plans to greet them were put in motion. We continue on now as a small group of military personel from the camp attempt contact.
Carlos kept slowly advancing along with the other soldiers. He continued to repeat his message. He whispered something to the others and paused for a moment to make sure they all heard him correctly. "We are unarmed. We are friendlies. We're here to help get you to safety." Damn, Carlos. What the hell are you doing? They had laid there weapons down and placed their hands on top of their heads. "Smart, I should have thought of that. Remove all threat." Christine just glanced at me and nodded affirmatively. As they arrived at the point where the troops were, three of them jumped out with rifles aimed at them. Carlos and the others didn't move.
"Where's the rest of your unit, soldier."
"There is no unit. We're not active duty. We were dispatched to meet you, to offer assistance."
"Assistance? What the hell makes you think we need any damn assistance from a soft civilian former grunt like you, marine?"
"Nothing, sir! Just following orders, sir!"
"Well, marine. You may as well signal your commander to come on down and have a pow wow. He sure as hell ain't gonna send a mealy mouth puke like you out here with these ladies all by your lonesome."
I took that as my cue. I signaled my people "don't a muscle". I moved far from our position and approached from where Carlos had just left. "Johnny, sir." I said with my hand extended.
"Well, I must say, Johnny, you’re a sight for sore eyes. I don't suppose you have any grub back at the home base do you?"
"Yes, sir. All you can eat. Glad to have you."
With a big sigh of relief, he shouted out a command, "Formation, forward heeeewaaa."
I wasn't sure what the last word was exactly, but I assume it meant "march" as that is what they did. It Occurred to me that I'd better have a discussion with the commander before arriving at camp. They may not be excited to be meeting up with Russian troops.
"Commander? Could I have a word?"
"Corporal Garfield. Tom Garfield. Just call me Tom, Johnny. We haven't heard from anyone in two months. A couple unmanned supply dumps, that's it. To tell you the truth you're the first friendly face we've seen since they dropped us off in Kings Canyon."
"Tom. We captured some Russian troops and they have defected to our side. They're part of our community. I wanted to tell you in case you've had encounters along the way."
"Russians? They're supposed to be friendlies. But, who's to say anymore. No, we fought Al Qaida side by side the first week out here. That’s the last we've seen of Russians. Since then, it's been all ambushes, sneak attacks from Americans. Rogue groups in the forests. No match really, but it takes a toll. We've lost half our number, one here and two there. This looked like a set-up at first too until Carlos identified himself as a friendly. No marine ever turns on a brother. Not ever."
Something about that touched me in a way that I couldn't quite put my finger on. It reminded me of Ma talking about "Kin first". I could sense the tension release in the soldiers as the marched to camp. It was more relaxed.
Christine had something on her mind, "I had a dream last night, I was wondering if you did too?"
"I dreamt that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was flying in Air Force One to London, England for a meeting with various heads of state. France, Italy, Finland, India and a couple other countries that I can't recall were all coming for a big summit. It all seemed unreal. Did you have the same dream?"
"Yes, Johnny, I did. I had another dream as well. I had a dream that Robert F. Kennedy was on board Air Force One and it was landing in Newfoundland, Canada. I dreamed that terrorists had taken over the capitol building in Oregon. Johnny, I have an old wind up watch that was my grandmothers. Today is October twenty seventh. We are in Northern California. Does anything look strange to you?"
"Strange? The so-called capitol being over thrown is strange. The president in exile is strange. What is strange about October twenty seventh?"
"Johnny, It's winter. It's winter in Northern California. You're in a tee shirt. It's supposed to be covered in snow here already. It's rained once since this all went down. Once, Johnny. Forget the bombs and biological weapons. The earth is out of kilter. For all we know the Pacific Ocean is twenty miles away. We have to stop thinking of everything like it was and start thinking of things like they are. Kennedy isn't hibernating in some ice cave. He's in sunny Newfoundland. The South, the East and West coast? They're probably under water. Johnny! Central America is gone! Do you see what I'm telling you?"
"Yeah. I get it. I really do. But, what's it have to do with us?"
"It's our thinking. We have to eliminate what was from our mindset. Eliminate it! Nothing that existed before exists now, nothing. We live in paradise. This is heaven on Earth right here. Even if there is some form of The United States or any other country still hanging on in some form it doesn't matter. This is the future, that is the past. Yosemite is our country now."
"But, Christine, who is putting these touchy feely dreams in our heads and why? Someone wants our mindset to be that America is well and on the mend. What in hell is that supposed to mean to us?"
"It isn't just us, Johnny. It's a big country. Think about it. Look at how many people are here in this tiny little area. What about the rest of California. What about Oregon, Washington, Utah, The Dakotas and all of Canada? Shall I go on? There are probably millions of survivors, millions. There are forces that want us sitting here waiting for rescue. A rescue that isn't going to come. A rescue that comes in the form of murder. Food drops that kill the hungry. They want the land and they want it without us on it."
That all made perfect sense. I could see how that knowledge could keep us safe. How could it help us strike back? Until we could strike back, we were targets. I had a question for Tom. I brought Christine with me.
"Tom, do any of your soldiers report dreams of an unusual nature?"
"Johnny, we have a dream squad. They were assigned right after we were deployed in Kings Canyon. I don't know exactly how it works, but somehow they receive some kind of transmissions through their dreams. More trouble than their worth between me and you. We stopped paying attention to em to be honest. We started calling them the nightmare squad. Every time we'd get orders through them, it would be a blood bath. Somehow, things would just go to hell. The intel was good. It just seemed to be jinxed or something."
That answered my question. The dream squad would be getting to know Christine and me quite well very soon. It became clear to me that there was an enemy. Not bands of starving survivors desperately attacking for food. That was a threat to be sure. One crazed starving individual could always burst out of the forest and do some damage. The enemy wasn't Russian troops that probably didn't have a country to return to. In many ways, and perhaps in every way, they were more like long lost cousins than they were enemies. There was an enemy that had control of stealth bombers. There was an enemy that could arrange and execute a false food drop causing the death of hundreds without scorching a blade of grass. There was an enemy that had the technology to implant thought.
"Johnny? You seem lost in thought. That scares me. You know I prefer you mindless and compliant." Christine could warm me in a way that no one ever had. Humor reached me deeper than any romantic notion ever could. It seemed more intimate to me.
"I was contemplating the enemy. I wish we could give them a name."
"The enemy works for me. We know who and what they are, Johnny. It never changes. We need to find out where they are and when they are coming. We have found out a lot in the last few days. We have found out who is not the enemy. Those that are not our enemy are our allies. Look at these men and woman, Johnny. Trained soldiers armed to the hilt. Security just went up a notch. Good job, fearless leader."
Carlos kept slowly advancing along with the other soldiers. He continued to repeat his message. He whispered something to the others and paused for a moment to make sure they all heard him correctly. "We are unarmed. We are friendlies. We're here to help get you to safety." Damn, Carlos. What the hell are you doing? They had laid there weapons down and placed their hands on top of their heads. "Smart, I should have thought of that. Remove all threat." Christine just glanced at me and nodded affirmatively. As they arrived at the point where the troops were, three of them jumped out with rifles aimed at them. Carlos and the others didn't move.
"Where's the rest of your unit, soldier."
"There is no unit. We're not active duty. We were dispatched to meet you, to offer assistance."
"Assistance? What the hell makes you think we need any damn assistance from a soft civilian former grunt like you, marine?"
"Nothing, sir! Just following orders, sir!"
"Well, marine. You may as well signal your commander to come on down and have a pow wow. He sure as hell ain't gonna send a mealy mouth puke like you out here with these ladies all by your lonesome."
I took that as my cue. I signaled my people "don't a muscle". I moved far from our position and approached from where Carlos had just left. "Johnny, sir." I said with my hand extended.
"Well, I must say, Johnny, you’re a sight for sore eyes. I don't suppose you have any grub back at the home base do you?"
"Yes, sir. All you can eat. Glad to have you."
With a big sigh of relief, he shouted out a command, "Formation, forward heeeewaaa."
I wasn't sure what the last word was exactly, but I assume it meant "march" as that is what they did. It Occurred to me that I'd better have a discussion with the commander before arriving at camp. They may not be excited to be meeting up with Russian troops.
"Commander? Could I have a word?"
"Corporal Garfield. Tom Garfield. Just call me Tom, Johnny. We haven't heard from anyone in two months. A couple unmanned supply dumps, that's it. To tell you the truth you're the first friendly face we've seen since they dropped us off in Kings Canyon."
"Tom. We captured some Russian troops and they have defected to our side. They're part of our community. I wanted to tell you in case you've had encounters along the way."
"Russians? They're supposed to be friendlies. But, who's to say anymore. No, we fought Al Qaida side by side the first week out here. That’s the last we've seen of Russians. Since then, it's been all ambushes, sneak attacks from Americans. Rogue groups in the forests. No match really, but it takes a toll. We've lost half our number, one here and two there. This looked like a set-up at first too until Carlos identified himself as a friendly. No marine ever turns on a brother. Not ever."
Something about that touched me in a way that I couldn't quite put my finger on. It reminded me of Ma talking about "Kin first". I could sense the tension release in the soldiers as the marched to camp. It was more relaxed.
Christine had something on her mind, "I had a dream last night, I was wondering if you did too?"
"I dreamt that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was flying in Air Force One to London, England for a meeting with various heads of state. France, Italy, Finland, India and a couple other countries that I can't recall were all coming for a big summit. It all seemed unreal. Did you have the same dream?"
"Yes, Johnny, I did. I had another dream as well. I had a dream that Robert F. Kennedy was on board Air Force One and it was landing in Newfoundland, Canada. I dreamed that terrorists had taken over the capitol building in Oregon. Johnny, I have an old wind up watch that was my grandmothers. Today is October twenty seventh. We are in Northern California. Does anything look strange to you?"
"Strange? The so-called capitol being over thrown is strange. The president in exile is strange. What is strange about October twenty seventh?"
"Johnny, It's winter. It's winter in Northern California. You're in a tee shirt. It's supposed to be covered in snow here already. It's rained once since this all went down. Once, Johnny. Forget the bombs and biological weapons. The earth is out of kilter. For all we know the Pacific Ocean is twenty miles away. We have to stop thinking of everything like it was and start thinking of things like they are. Kennedy isn't hibernating in some ice cave. He's in sunny Newfoundland. The South, the East and West coast? They're probably under water. Johnny! Central America is gone! Do you see what I'm telling you?"
"Yeah. I get it. I really do. But, what's it have to do with us?"
"It's our thinking. We have to eliminate what was from our mindset. Eliminate it! Nothing that existed before exists now, nothing. We live in paradise. This is heaven on Earth right here. Even if there is some form of The United States or any other country still hanging on in some form it doesn't matter. This is the future, that is the past. Yosemite is our country now."
"But, Christine, who is putting these touchy feely dreams in our heads and why? Someone wants our mindset to be that America is well and on the mend. What in hell is that supposed to mean to us?"
"It isn't just us, Johnny. It's a big country. Think about it. Look at how many people are here in this tiny little area. What about the rest of California. What about Oregon, Washington, Utah, The Dakotas and all of Canada? Shall I go on? There are probably millions of survivors, millions. There are forces that want us sitting here waiting for rescue. A rescue that isn't going to come. A rescue that comes in the form of murder. Food drops that kill the hungry. They want the land and they want it without us on it."
That all made perfect sense. I could see how that knowledge could keep us safe. How could it help us strike back? Until we could strike back, we were targets. I had a question for Tom. I brought Christine with me.
"Tom, do any of your soldiers report dreams of an unusual nature?"
"Johnny, we have a dream squad. They were assigned right after we were deployed in Kings Canyon. I don't know exactly how it works, but somehow they receive some kind of transmissions through their dreams. More trouble than their worth between me and you. We stopped paying attention to em to be honest. We started calling them the nightmare squad. Every time we'd get orders through them, it would be a blood bath. Somehow, things would just go to hell. The intel was good. It just seemed to be jinxed or something."
That answered my question. The dream squad would be getting to know Christine and me quite well very soon. It became clear to me that there was an enemy. Not bands of starving survivors desperately attacking for food. That was a threat to be sure. One crazed starving individual could always burst out of the forest and do some damage. The enemy wasn't Russian troops that probably didn't have a country to return to. In many ways, and perhaps in every way, they were more like long lost cousins than they were enemies. There was an enemy that had control of stealth bombers. There was an enemy that could arrange and execute a false food drop causing the death of hundreds without scorching a blade of grass. There was an enemy that had the technology to implant thought.
"Johnny? You seem lost in thought. That scares me. You know I prefer you mindless and compliant." Christine could warm me in a way that no one ever had. Humor reached me deeper than any romantic notion ever could. It seemed more intimate to me.
"I was contemplating the enemy. I wish we could give them a name."
"The enemy works for me. We know who and what they are, Johnny. It never changes. We need to find out where they are and when they are coming. We have found out a lot in the last few days. We have found out who is not the enemy. Those that are not our enemy are our allies. Look at these men and woman, Johnny. Trained soldiers armed to the hilt. Security just went up a notch. Good job, fearless leader."
 Recognized |
By process of elimination the real enemy is becoming clearer. We find out more and more about who the enemy is not. Wonderful input as always. I don't know if I could ever write anything of this length without this excellent help. Please always feel free to suggest, criticize and lavish me with sixes!! mikey
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