Paul Kirk - Devastation Point

“Okay. Anything else?”

“Lost her husband to the Sickness and traveled to Pittsburgh to see about her parents, both dead. They didn’t make it, so she started back south and ended up here. Nothing surprising.”

“How’d you meet up with her, again?”

“Umm, last month. I went to see about those deep-cycle batteries we wanted to trade on for our solar array. Aldonza was passing by as Todd and I traded.”

“And?”

“Ahh, she was something special… I felt it.”

“You felt it, did you?” Terry chuckled and Kevin noticed.

“No question.”

“Uh, huh.”

Kevin smiled, thinking back to that day. Terry did not want to keep him from exploring this new aspect of his life.

“Kev?”

“Yeah?”

“Go to Nemacolin and see what you might have going on with Aldonza. Okay? If things work out, bring her in—everyone wants to meet her.”

“Oh. Yeah, sure.”

“I’m serious.”

“Ahh, okay. If she’s interested, I sure will.”

“And, Kev?”

“Yeah?”

“Take 200 of our Nemacolin trade credits from the main account.”

“Umm…”

“Use it to impress her. Buy her something nice. No payback required.”

Stunned, Kevin stared, flabbergasted.

“200 Nemacolin, wow!”

“Uh, huh”

“But… that’s two month’s—”

“Aww, c’mon, Kev. You’re essential to this clan. You know that.”

“Okay, sure, but…”

“The least we can do is give you 200 chits so you can make an impression on a potential future wife. One that might end up a contributing member.”

“Ahh, oh, well, T, that’s… more than I planned for.”

“I know. That’s why I did it.”

“Thank you.”

“Hmm, now don’t go tellin’ the rest of the clan about my generosity… or I’ll have your ass.”

“No, course not.”

Kevin headed back toward the cottage with a spring in his step, but already, he was caught up in thoughts of Aldonza and her boy. Confident, he was pretty sure that they would be a good fit with the clan.

“Phoenix is on the move, ma’am.”

Colonel Starkes sat on a bench in the open yard of Allegheny college, sipping a cup of coffee. She had heard the return of the helicopter, but was immersed in reading a book on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire she had found in one of the classrooms. The major’s approach and comment made her mind spin to face him with interest.

“What strength? What direction? How’s he supplied? He using motorized vehicles and all those horses he has?”

“Umm…”

Colonel Starkes forced herself to relax, tempering her intensity. “Sorry… welcome back, major.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Set it up and bring the rest of the team in to hear your report. Meet in twenty in command.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You and your men need any more time to get situated beforehand?”

“No, that’d be fine.”

Twenty minutes later, the entire contingent crowded into the command center, a makeshift room on the second floor that used to be the Teacher’s Lounge. With no fanfare, Colonel Starkes entered, making her way to the main table up front with a fresh cup of coffee in her left hand and a batch of papers in her right. At her entrance, most stopped talking. Within a few seconds, she had their undivided attention.

“As you know, the major ran recon into Cleveland today. This will be his report. And, I wanted each of you to hear this to keep us all on the same page. This will be the first I’m hearing of it as well. Major?”

“Thank you, ma’am. Okay, so we ran up to Cleveland and found out a few items of interest. Number one, Phoenix is on the move traveling south east.”

“Phoenix, the damn bastard.”

“Maggot piece of shit.”

“Puke damn traitor.”

“Let me shoot the prick.”

“Nah, he’s mine when I—”

“Guys, quiet up. Save it,” said Colonel Starkes.

The grumbling stopped, though the fierce looks of her men conveyed an intense desire to settle the score from the recent debacle that they’d left. To a man, no one relished the idea of vacating the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame under the cover of night with their tails between their legs. Retreat was not in their blood. They would not forget.

“Major? Go on…”

“Right. Anyway, number one, Phoenix is on the move and about twenty miles out from the city, so he may have only started out very early today or late yesterday. Number two, this is not a scouting mission. We counted nearly 250 cavalry, 60 white pickups with driver and passenger and around 250 or so men packed in tight in the pickups or on twenty quads and twenty bikes. They were traveling with purpose in tight units on the move.”

“That’s around 620 men total, sir?” said captain Daubney.

“At least. And, from what we know, that’d likely be a good portion of Phoenix’s highly trained ‘Pride Brigades’, the DPs and cavalry. Based on our time in the city, he’s probably kept on a hundred or so men sitting back in Cleveland. Well, that is, after our firefight trimmed off more than a few when they tried to take us down.”

“Damn right,” said GT to the man next to him. Many men grumbled in agreement, but were hesitant to be the first to dismiss Colonel Starke’s command to stay silent. Major O’Malley continued.

“We’ve all seen that cavalry those brigade guys, they’re not something to take lightly.”

“Piece of cake.”

“Like squashing bugs.”

“Shooting fish in a barrel.”

“Taking candy—”

“Silence,” said Colonel Starkes.

All comments ceased, despite a rising anger in their blood. Clearly, many would’ve liked to have stayed and fought to the death if not given specific orders to evacuate. Major O’Malley decided to nip the macho display in the bud.

“Listen men, we know they’re no match for us even if we’re outnumbered and outgunned, but let’s not ignore the fact that these are highly trained men, okay? Anyway, number three, they’re using all those white pickups they have along with a good deal of horses and some quads. There’s a few dirt bikes. Projected hard counts of all equipment will be provided on the board up here for review. Any questions so far?”

“Sir. They’re heading somewhere fast with at least five brigades, trucks and cavalry only four days after their assault of the Hall of Fame?”

“Seems like it, Mickey.”

“Hmm…”

“Yeah, and I’ll add a number four. I believe Phoenix was there, in person.”

“He was on the taskforce, major? You’re sure?”

“Yeah, pretty sure, colonel.”

“How so?”

“Well, ma’am, we were spotted fairly quickly, since we didn’t expect to come up on anything like that that far out of Cleveland.”

“Understood,” said Colonel Starkes.

“So we decided to run with what we got. And, Phoenix jumped out of one of the front pickups, pointing. Seemed pretty focused on us once we came around. Both Timmy and Phillip confirmed it was him.”

“It was him. I know it,” said Lieutenant Tim McDonald. He stood at the back of the room, anger etching his young face as he thought back on recent events.

“Yeah, the arrogant bastard,” said Lieutenant Phillip Ziter, standing beside him.

Major O’Malley interrupted the testosterone surge. “We had a good portion of Phoenix’s men firing on us as we slid outta harm’s way.”

“One asswipe ran to a pickup and reached into a long case. I’m pretty sure it was an RPG,” said Lieutenant McDonald.

“Yeah, when Timmy yelled out we scooted fast out of range, conducting a more careful surveillance. After an hour, we headed back. They never did launch at us.”