Jeff Brackett - Half Past Midnight

No one moved on the street as I staggered outside. Dust drifted, and flames danced in small scattered groups, but there wasn’t a hint of life. A slight popping in my right ear hinted that at least some of my hearing was returning, but it took a moment for me to realize I was hearing the sounds of gunfire.

I decided that Ken’s group must be moving.

Four weary minutes and two long blocks later, I found myself approaching the outskirts of another battle.

Sarah led a massive wave of people who had made it halfway across Stadium Drive before a few of Larry’s men had caught on to what was happening. When those men turned their guns on the emerging crowd, the folks still inside the stadium had no idea what was going on in the darkness ahead, only that freedom waited beyond the gates. They pushed forward, while those in front pulled back, seeking shelter from the deadly crossfire. The great press of escaping Rejans stalled-and died.

By the light of trashcan fires, I saw our people stumbling over their own dead and wounded, surging to and fro like some panicked horde of lemmings, shoving one another into the waiting crossfire of Larry’s men. One silhouette stood out from the others, its appearance inhuman in the firelight. It was Sarah, wearing the goggles she had worn into the stadium the previous night. She frantically directed a small knot of people armed with rifles and handguns by pointing and gesticulating to help them pinpoint Larry’s guards, but the darkness worked against her. Although the targets were plainly visible through her goggles, Larry’s men were nothing more than shadows to those she was directing.

My right ear was working at about half capacity, and I could hear the screams of people over the gunfire. Where was Ken? There should be more support.

Seeing Sarah reminded me that I had my own goggles on my belt, and I slipped them on, praying they still worked. They did.

Scrambling closer, I could see that there were actually only two groups of snipers shooting at the crowd. The first group consisted of two men with their backs to me ducked behind a rusted-out abandoned Dodge. Suddenly, I realized I had left my carbine lying between Billy and the nameless soldier I had killed.

I drew my machete and Bowie and, once more, I attacked from behind and killed before my victims knew I was upon them. So much for honor in combat.

Grabbing one of the dead men’s rifles, I looked up to see the muzzle flashes of two rifles from the ground floor window of a building across the street. The angle was wrong, and I couldn’t get a clear shot at the owners, but I figured I could at least keep their heads down while some of our people got clear. Glancing down at the unfamiliar weapon, I found a lever over my right thumb. Select fire .

Taking aim at the window, I quickly discovered that a fully automatic M-16 was much harder to hold on target than the movies portrayed. Still, the sudden shower of bullets proved enough to cause them to duck for cover, giving two of Sarah’s armed partners time to rush the building and get to either side of the window. Working together, they whirled and fired several rounds inside. One of them fell, but the other waved the crowd on. Sarah and the escapees began scattering through the streets.

I stepped out from behind the car and waved to get Sarah’s attention. “Sarah!” I winced again at the pain in my throat and hoped she would recognize my voice. With my impaired hearing, I couldn’t even tell if my voice carried over the background noises, but I saw her turn toward me and give a thumbs up as I wove my way toward her through the racing crowd.

“Good timing, Sensei. That was getting hairy.”

I looked at the bodies on the ground. Friends and neighbors. Ken had warned us that we would lose people, but I had never imagined it being this bad. There must have been thirty bodies and even more wounded.

I shook my head. “Not good enough. Too many of us are dead.”

Sarah grabbed my shoulder. “It would’ve been worse if you hadn’t come along when you did. We’d have lost a lot more.”

“But you were supposed to have more support! Where’s Ken? We had over forty people waiting to help you! Where are they?”

She looked at me incredulously. “Are you kidding? Can’t you hear the fighting?”

“What?”

“The tanks. Jeez, Sensei! There were two more tanks. Ken’s people went to draw the other tanks off! They sound like they’re about a mile away now.”

“What?” I shook my head, dumbfounded. “My ears are a little messed up, Sarah. I can’t hear too well.”

“What happened?” She looked at me with sudden concern.

“That first tank happened,” I said bitterly. “There’s no way they can last long against two of them!” I reached for the radio at my belt and turned it on. “Ken! It’s Leeland! Ken! Can you hear me? Everyone is out of the stadium, pull back! Pull back, Ken!”

No response. I handed the radio to Sarah. “My ears must not be working well enough. Can you hear anything?”

Sarah lifted it and tried the same thing for a few seconds before shaking her head. “Either it’s not working, or they just can’t hear us.”

“Okay, then can you take me to where they’re fighting?”

She watched the flood of people scurrying past us into the darkness. “Yeah, I can take you. Everyone here knows where to meet up. Come on.”

She led me through the darkened streets to the east side of town. The closer we got, the more I could hear. And the more I could hear, the worse things sounded. By the time we reached the fighting, I could easily hear the chatter of rifles and machine guns firing, the chaos of the battle. With both of us wearing goggles, we were able to avoid scattered groups of Larry’s men, and we soon found our way to a group of our own people.

Rene busily shouted orders to a squad of several men as Sarah and I first approached them in the narrow lane between two buildings. Further up the street, I saw a white flash that nearly blinded me, and I ripped the goggles from my face. The flash was followed a second later by the sound and vibration of an explosion. The tanks were up there somewhere.

I turned to see Sarah watching me through the insectoid goggles. “Try infrared,” was her only comment.

I nodded. Knowing Rene as I did, I wasn’t about to get closer until I knew she was expecting me. “Rene!”

Her rifle whipped around at the sound of my voice. “?Quien esta?”

Spanish? She must be scared to death. “Leeland and Sarah, coming in from the rear!”

Squinting toward me, she finally decided not to shoot. “Vaya con sus manos. Chinga! Come een weeth your hands where we can see them!”

Raising our rifles above our heads, Sarah and I joined Rene’s group. As we walked up, I saw four men trying to staunch the flow of blood from two others. Neither of the wounded looked to be in very good shape. Still more men and women leaned panting against the wall.

Incongruously, for the first time ever, I actually saw Rene Herrera smile. It was a frightening thing. Completely feral. “Glad to see you made it, Jefe. Where the others?”

“Dead.”

She turned away. “Sorry.”

“Not your fault.” It’s me they trusted. My fault. “Where’s Ken?”

She pointed several blocks up the road to an old Sears store. “In there.”

There had dozens of Larry’s men hidden behind a barricade of abandoned cars that had been pushed completely across the street to form a solid wall of metal from which they could indiscriminately fill the walls of the department store with holes. With my goggles, I could see about a dozen people firing back from inside the building.

I pulled out the radio. “Ken? Leeland here.” After a short pause, I tried again. “Ken?” Still no response. I sighed. “I guess the radio’s dead after all. Rene, do you know how many other groups of our people are around here? We’re going to hit those guys from behind and break Ken and the others out of there.”