Jeff Brackett - Half Past Midnight

I thought back on the bits and pieces I could recall of the ride back in the Humvee. It had been light enough to see Rene and Sarah-early morning. When I’d seen the light in the window a moment ago, I’d assumed that it was nearly noon of the same day.

I could tell by Ken’s expression that he had more to tell me. So I shoved my confusion aside and waited patiently for him to continue.

“When Larry showed up yesterday, he parked his tank just across the bridge and sent out a messenger with a white flag. The messenger claimed Larry was a lawful representative of the United States Army, and that you were wanted for war crimes.”

“What!”

Ken held up a finger. “Just wait. It gets better.”

“Jim told him you’d been killed in the fighting, and that even if you weren’t, in consideration of the damage he’d done the town so far, the good general was going to have to give us more than just his word that he was a legitimate government official before we would even consider turning someone over to him.”

I smiled despite the circumstances. “How’d Larry take that?”

“Not well.” Jim took over from Ken. “I watched that man take my message back to Larry. As soon as he finished talkin’, Larry pulled out a pistol and shot the man where he stood.” He shook his head. “I ain’t never seen nothin’ like it. His own man! Just dropped him ’cause he didn’t like what he had to say.

“Then he climbed back in his tank, and him an’ the rest of his boys just left like nothin’ happened. This mornin’, he came back with thirty hostages from the hospital. Turned ten of them loose and sent ‘em in with hundreds of leaflets.” The mayor slid a piece of mimeographed paper across the table. “Read.”

It was the same mimeograph paper as that on which the Chronicle was printed. I read silently.

Citizens of Rejas. It is my understanding that you have unknowingly harbored a criminal by the name of Leeland Dawcett. He is wanted by the U.S. Government for the ambush and brutal murders of several innocent people on the evening of June 13, 2015, on Highway 189 while en route to your town. Leeland Dawcett is the sole purpose of our expedition, and upon his delivery, my troops and I will withdraw from your town.

Today at noon, if he has not been turned over to me, you will then be guilty of harboring a fugitive during a time of martial law, and I will be forced to renew hostilities in order to recover this wartime criminal. Please do not force us to use the full might of the U.S. military against you.

Turn this murderer over to us so that we can leave you in peace.

Signed,

General Lawrence D. Troutman — USRD

I had no idea what to say. So many implications were buried in the note that it was overwhelming. “He’s claiming I killed those people on D-day?”

Jim nodded.

“The guy’s nuts, Jim! I mean, I knew he was a crook, even a murderer. But this?” I wadded the note into a ball and threw it on the table. “He’s crazy!”

The mayor shrugged. “No doubt about that, Lee, but he’s crazy like a fox. And with his tanks and troops, he has enough clout to make ever’body listen to what he wants to say.” He indicated the wad of paper with a wave of his hand. “That note implies that all of the fighting and killing here has been because of you and, if we turn you over to him, he’ll leave us alone.”

I paused and took a deep breath. “So how many are ready to hand me over?”

“Surprisingly few, actually,” Ken interjected. “These aren’t the good ol’ days when people would blindly believe whatever they saw on the idiot box. These are rough times, and actions speak a lot louder than words. Rejas has seen what you’ve done for her, and what Troutman has done. What he did to that messenger was just the icing on the cake.”

That was reassuring, but it raised a question. “I appreciate the sentiment, but if you weren’t arguing about whether or not to turn me over, just what was all the yelling about?”

Jim looked hurt. “You don’t really think we considered turnin’ you over to that lunatic, do you? It’s just that it’s almost noon, and we were tryin’ to decide whether or not to wake you up. You sorta made that a moot point, though.”

“Thanks, Jim, but I wouldn’t blame you if you did decide to trade me. You have more people than me to think about.”

He pursed his lips. “That may be. But this man has already proven that he can’t be trusted. I don’t think he’d stick to his word, even if we did give you up. The hostages he released had some other stories to tell when they got back to us.

“Seems Larry was in a hurry to get the hostages here this morning. He was in such a hurry that he couldn’t be slowed down with a bunch of sick and wounded.”

“Oh God!” I hoped the story wasn’t going where I feared.

But my hope proved to be in vain, as Jim continued, “He killed everyone that couldn’t keep up and forced the rest to march here overnight. According to Eric’s report on his raid, there were over a hundred people left in that hospital. Larry got here this morning with thirty. He didn’t leave anyone behind.”

I slumped back in my chair. Then something occurred to me. I looked over at my wife, tears flowing silently down her cheeks. “Amber?”

I finally understood Debra’s tears. She was in a no-win situation. If I surrendered to Larry, she would lose her husband. If I didn’t, she would lose her mother. No matter what happened, she was about to lose one of the people closest to her within the next few hours.

Of course, my first thought was that I would do the right thing and turn myself over to Larry. It seemed straightforward enough-my life for twenty others, one of them my mother-in-law.

Then, “ But what if he doesn’t keep his word?” And finally, “If? Of course he won’t keep his word! Remember City Hall? This man will do anything to get what he wants. Anything!”

I was at a loss. I truly had no earthly idea on what to do. My jaw kept flapping open, then closed, an ugly parody of a fish aground.

“Shut your mouth, Leeland. Nobody’s turning you over to that lunatic.” Ken’s words brought me back to my present surroundings. “Not even you.” He held my eye to see that I understood. He had obviously followed my thought process and come to the same conclusion. Larry wasn’t trustworthy enough to deal with.

Defeated, I let my fatigue take over and slumped down in my chair. “So what do we do?”

“Well, it’s not as bad as you’d think. We have a plan, of sorts. It’s just that there are some complications keeping us from acting on it. Twenty of them, to be precise.”

I squeezed Debra’s hand and emotionally braced myself to leave her and Megan with the rest of the crowd that had come out to the meeting with us.

Megan smiled grimly. “Kick his ass, Dad.” When they’d brought me back injured, her emotions had made the predictable transformation from grief to barely controlled rage.

I hugged her to me and whispered, “If this doesn’t work, it’s up to you to watch out for your mom and Zach.”

“It’ll work.”