Франк Бейтс - Calls to Arms - A Story of the Imminent Collapse

“No, Captain. We don’t recognize the unknown trucks.” Joseph spoke to the radio.

“Let’s try to speed up, and see if we can lose them.” Captain Ellis ordered.

They all speed up and passed alternative routes that they have planned, but the unknown trucks still followed them. The Army wasn’t shooting because the unknown trucks weren’t doing any but follow. They are three kilometers away from the town, but they have to pass a two-hundred-meter-long bridge. Joseph slowed down at the midway of the bridge, it’s traffic and jammed, but with no people inside the vehicles. A pile of cars that turned the bridge into a large parking lot.

“Holy shit. What happened?” Walter uttered.

“They must have run out of gas because of the traffic when they moved out of the town,” Victoria said.

“And leave their cars like that? Irresponsible.” Walter uttered.

“Who wouldn’t? They’d die here if they didn’t.” Victoria answered.

“Captain, we have a situation here,” Joseph spoke through the radio.

“What?” Captain Ellis responded.

“Piles of cars without drivers,” Joseph replied still in disbelief.

“We haven’t lost the unknown trucks, and now they’re approaching behind us. My instinct tells me something is wrong, be ready.” Captain Ellis announced.

For a few seconds, no one was moving. All of a sudden, armed men went out of the unknown trucks and fired at the convoy. Joseph, his group, the Southcrest villagers and the army all went down.

“Shit!” Walter shouted.

“Joseph you have to move. We’ll cover you.” Captain Ellis ordered.

“No! We’ll all go to the farm together!” Joseph insisted.

“We should have shot them earlier.” One of the Army uttered, but Captain Ellis didn’t answer.

“It’s showtime!” One of the men from Southcrest shouted.

Men get off the vehicles together with their guns. Joseph, Walter, and Southcrest Villagers all went behind the truck to cover and shoot. The Army did the same. They were all exchanging gunshots when the unknown truck released their machine guns. Bullets passed through the vehicles, and a lot of Southcrest people and some army died. Blood spilled on the road.

“Bullshit! Enough of this game. Cover me. We’ll give them what they want.” Captain Ellis shouted to one of his men.

“Guys I need you to drive backward. I’ll blow them, but we’re too close.” Captain Ellis shouted to his group while covering behind the truck.

“The white truck can’t reverse trippingly!” Walter shouted back.

“Fit the kids in your car, Joseph. The rest, go to the Army truck. Go! We’ll cover you.” Captain Ellis commanded.

From twenty-two Southcrest Villagers, they’re now down to ten, and eight Army. Captain Ellis and his troops covered Southcrest Villagers as they went inside the car. Then the rest followed in the Army Truck and stayed low.

“Joseph, on three. Let’s reverse on sync. One, Two Three.” Both vehicles reversed at full speed ten meters away from the unknown trucks while others were still firing.

“What are they doing?” One of the intruders shouted while firing machine guns.

“Just shoot!” Another one replied.

Captain Ellis took their RPG-7 behind the Army truck. The trucks were parallel from one another. One shot can blow those two trucks together, so Captain Ellis aimed for the first truck.

“Sorry folks, it’s too brutal.” One pull, then the two trucks exploded along with its people. It was a chain reaction, and the pile of cars also exploded. Spare parts and smoke filled the air as the convoy reversed more. After a few minutes of the explosion, there was fire on the road.

Joseph, Walter Denise, The nurse, Victoria, three kids and two teenagers fit inside Steve’s car. Three men and two women joined the eight-man Army truck.

“Great job, Captain. So what now?” Joseph said on the radio as they watched the fire eat the autos.

“We wait to lighten the fire.” Captain Ellis replied.

“Or we drive through them,” Walter recommended.

“That’s too risky. We have women and children.” One of the Army replied.

“Then unload them first.” Walter pushed his idea.

They’ve waited for hours until the fire lightened up. They’re grateful to the weather because of the heavy wind and rain it helped stop the fire. After eating their lunch on the road, Captain Ellis decided that they have to go. He’s unsure if the Army truck can tow the fired vehicles, but he has to try. The Army and Southcrest Villagers removed the movable parts. Captain Ellis ignited the engine and warmed it up. Then he stepped on the gas at full speed. Everyone was watching like it was a scene on a movie, hoping that they’d also have a happy ending.

Fortunately, Captain Ellis towed the burned cars successfully and cleared a path. Everyone clapped their hands and celebrated soon as the Army truck reached the other end. They didn’t wait for the Army truck to return, they ran towards it while shouting in joy. Joseph and his passengers followed immediately. Then they continued their journey to the farm.

However, there was a checkpoint before entering the town. Joseph, Walter and The Nurse were all nervous.

“Calm down. We got this.” Joseph reminded them.

“Yea, play it cool,” Walter answered as the nurse sighed deeply.

The checkpoint stopped their car, as well as the Army.

“Where are you going?” One of the Officers asked.

“My wife. We have a farm here.”

“Who?” The officer interrogated him.

“Carmichael’s” Joseph replied calmly. The officer checked his list and confirmed if the surname lives on the place.

“Hey, I’m Captain Ellis of the army. We’re with them. As per Colonel Eaton’s advice.” Captain Ellis talked to the officer.

“Just a protocol, Captain. You can go now.” The officer answered as he looked the Captain in the eye sharply.

“Let’s go, Cap,” Joseph said calmly trying to break the ice.

The convoy continued their way the farm. It’s almost four in the afternoon, and they’ve been traveling for eight hours. The reroutes, mass of cars and battle with another group of rebels, Joseph couldn’t help, but be excited to be with his family again. His passengers, on the other hand, were staring out the window as people walk the street. The Nurse was sitting on the front, with Denise between him and Joseph. Three kids and one teenage boy from Southcrest sat on the second passenger row as Walter, Victoria and another Southcrest teenager settled on the last row. They had to rearrange seats after the battle for defensive purposes.

Soon as they reached the town, the market is still operating, but with fewer people and fewer goods but higher price. It was a relief for them to see other people not firing guns or killing one another. However, people were looking at their convoy as they pass them. It’s as if that they are not welcome on the place, or they are protective of their community. Fortunately, they are with the Army, until Walter saw that their truck was slowing down and suddenly it stopped.

“What happened? The Army truck stopped,” Walter said in confusion.

Everyone looked behind, except for Joseph who stared at the rear mirror and stopped.

“Captain, what happened back there?” Joseph asked calmly.

“We ran out of gas. Seemed like towing the burned vehicles consumed a lot of fuel.” Captain replied.

“I think Steve’s got a rope. He always has one just in case something like this happen whenever we go out-of-town.” Joseph suggested. He immediately checked the compartments of the car and got what he’s looking.

“Great! Let’s tie it.” Joseph, Walter, Captain Ellis and some Army men tied the rope from the Army truck bumper to Steve’s car. Then they continued their path.