Note: The
characters of Soldier are the property of Deshi,
Denchu and the Soldier Page. They are not my
characters.
--
Chapter 2:
Road to Cerulean
--
Somewhere
outside the dome and barrier…
The Wastes.
There’s a reason it’s called a desert-like post-apocalyptic wasteland/hellhole.
There’s nothing here for goodness knows how far. The vast wasteland,
surrounding the domed city of
(Soundtrack:
Fire It Up by Black Label Society)
Just then, the
sound of a car engine could be heard. How can that be? There’s nothing here for
miles, is there? Wrong. Soon, a blue pony car could be seen speeding down the
lonesome stretch of highway. The car slowly approached, despite going well
beyond the posted speed limit of 65 MPH. A lone jackrabbit—okay, so there is
some life--hopped into the center of the road, but hopped out of the way in
time to avoid getting hit by the incoming car. The car in question was a 2011
Ford Mustang with a Sprint Cup wing on the back. Some music could be heard, no
doubt a heavy metal sound. A lone figure sat in the driver’s seat.
The driver
hummed along to the music, which seemed to be a heavy metal song he liked. As
he hummed, he reached for a bottle of water and took a sip of it. Then the song
took a shift in dynamics, and the driver began singing louder. His aviator
sunglasses reflected the long, endless road in front of him as he sang along
and headbanged with the song.
“Fire it
up, let the engines roll,
It’s time to burn it down.
Keep bleeding on ‘till the day you die
Forever love it loud, yeah!”
The driver
took another sip of his water during the short break in the singing before
going back to it. His eyes were covered by the previously mentioned sunglasses,
and he wore a cowboy hat to shield himself from the sun. His brown hair poked
out from under the hat. Completing his outfit was a simple t-shirt, as well as
a rocker jacket. He appeared young, probably around the age of Ash and Misty.
“Hellfire
doom, watch the hatred spin,
Beyond the speed of sound!
Fire it up, let the engines roll,
It’s time to burn it down, yeah!”
He took
another drink of water, trying to stay hydrated. It was then that he noticed
that he was almost running out on the bottle he was drinking from. Obviously,
he needed to get some more water from the trunk.
“Keep movin' on, keep movin' on, keep movin' on
Keep movin' on, keep movin'
on, keep movin' on”
It was then
that he noticed two figures on the side of the road some distance from him.
"That’s strange,” he said to himself. “I didn’t expect to see anybody.”
Slowing to a stop, he pulled up next to the two. They were both female,
probably close to his age. Both of them had blonde hair, except one had long
hair while the other had shorter hair. The young man rolled his window down and
said, “Hey!” That got their attention. They looked at him, giving him a look at
their eyes. The one with the long hair had blue eyes, while the one with short
hair had brown eyes. “You two ladies need a lift?”
The two girls
looked at each other and began conversing amongst themselves, as if negotiating
about what to do. Then they turned around and the long-haired one said, “Okay.”
“Hop in,” he
said. The two girls then got inside the car. They stopped when they noticed the
four-point safety harnesses.
“What are
those for?” the long-haired one asked.
“My dad and I
put those in,” he said. “I suggest you use them, anyway.” So, the girls
fastened their safety harnesses and settled into their seats. That’s when the
young man said,
“Alright,
let’s go!” He fired his engine and pushed down on the accelerator. The tires
screeched and then the car sped off to the west. The girls were forced back
into their seats by the sudden acceleration; the young man, however, was not.
“So where you two headed?” He asked.
“
“Cerulean?”
The boy asked. “That’s where I’m headed!” He took off his sunglasses, revealing
blue eyes. “The last known outpost of civilization left on Earth, right?”
“Exactly!” The
long-haired one said. “This is a nice car. How old is it?”
“It’s a 2011
Mustang,” he said. “So it’s two years old.”
“It’s nice,”
she said. “So you haven’t told us your name, stranger. Who are you?”
“My name?” He
said. “Okay, then. My name’s Jimmy McAndrew [1]. I’m
from
“I’m Denchu Risato,” she said. “The
short-haired girl is named Deshi Ginsei.”
“Those are
nice names,” said Jimmy. “So how old are you two?”
“Seventeen,”
said Denchu.
“Same here,”
said Deshi.
“Really?”
Jimmy asked. “So am I.”
“Um, excuse
me,” said Deshi. “But do you mind turning your music
off?”
“What?” Jimmy
said. “You do not tell a driver to turn his music off! It’s not polite!”
“Then can you
at least turn it down?” Deshi asked again. “It’s
really loud!”
“Oh, sorry
about that,” he said as he turned the volume on his stereo down. “So how long
of you two ladies been out here for?” He asked.
“Two days,”
said Denchu. “We just ran out of water about an hour
ago.”
“There’s a
cooler in the back that’s filled with water,” said Jimmy. “I guess I’ll have to
stop and get some out.” So he stopped the car again and killed the engine. Then
he got out and walked to the trunk. Deshi and Denchu heard the trunk pop open and listened for Jimmy
getting their water. They heard the trunk close and Jimmy walked back to the
car holding three bottles of water. “Here you go,” he said as he handed the
bottles to them.
“Thanks,” said
Denchu.
“Thank you,”
said Deshi.
“No problem,”
he said as he got his safety harness back on. “You know you girls are pretty
good look—”
“Drop it,” Denchu said, cutting him off. A stern look on her face told
him that she didn’t want him saying anything else. So, he simply fired up the
engine again and took off.
“So you guys
have only been out here for two days,” he said. “What happened?”
“Our
settlement was attacked,” said Denchu. “We managed to
escape, and we’re not to sure about everyone else. All we care about is getting
to
“So what about
you, Jimmy?” Deshi asked. “How long have you been out
here for?”
“Me?” He
asked. “Five months.”
“Five
months!?” They both shouted in unison. Jimmy simply nodded his head in
response.
“Yep,” he
said. “Been out here for five months. It started when the town I lived in was
attacked by orcs. They came out of nowhere, just like
so many eyewitness reports. My dad told me to take the ‘Stang,
and well, here I am.”
“But how have
you been living out here for that long?” Said Denchu.
“I should be
asking you the same thing about your settlement,” said Jimmy.
“Well, we kind
of were nomadic,” said Deshi. “We didn’t really stay
in one place for more than two weeks due to the risk of orc
attack,” she said. “We got our food from hunting and gathering, like the days
of early humanity.”
“I guess that
would be the case,” said Jimmy. “As for me, I’ve been living off of not only
hunting and gathering, but scavenging.”
“Scavenging?”
Said Denchu. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve taken
food from abandoned gas stations, grocery stores and quickie marts,” he said.
“It’s easy; you just need to find the food that’s not spoiled and rotten. I’ve
taken other supplies, too.”
“But isn’t
that stealing?” Asked Deshi.
“Hey, there
are no laws out here,” said Jimmy. “It’s an anarchist’s dream come true,
essentially. You take something, you take something. You’re not breaking the
law, because there is none!”
“Okay, so
you’ve stolen food from god-knows-where,” said Denchu.
“My biggest question is though, how is it that you still have gas?”
“It’s simple,”
said Jimmy. “All you need to know is how to tap a gas pump.”
“And you do,”
said Deshi.
“Exactly,”
said Jimmy. “In fact, I think I’ll show you two right now.” As he said it,
pointed to both his fuel gage and to an upcoming gas station. Jimmy pulled the
car into the gas station lot and got out, putting his sunglasses on. The area
were they were now had blue skies, unlike the sepia tone ten miles earlier when
Jimmy picked up Deshi and Denchu.
“I wonder why
the sky changes color on occasion,” said Denchu. “In
the middle of the day.” They watched Jimmy do… something with the gas pump.
What ever it was, it seemed illegal. Well, if there were laws, anyway.
Pretty soon, Jimmy had the fuel nozzle in the Mustang’s fuel injection and they
could hear the sound of gas being pumped. Deshi and Denchu looked at each other in astonishment as Jimmy went
inside the mini-mart.
“How did he do
that?” Deshi asked.
“I’m not
sure,” replied Denchu. “But I think he wanted us to
pay attention earlier.”
“So, did you
girls even pay attention?” Speak of the devil. Jimmy’s sudden re-entrance
startled Deshi and Denchu.
“I’ll take that as a no.”
“Did you find
any supplies?” Deshi asked.
“Only some
body wipes,” he replied. “Yes, I do clean myself; I live in that thing, for cryin’ out loud!”
“Well, I’m
glad that question has been answered,” Denchu said as
she pinched her nose. And yes, Jimmy got the message.
“Very funny,”
he replied. “I just haven’t had a chance lately.”
“I’ll say,”
said Deshi. “I’d say a week, maybe?”
“You know, you
girls don’t smell so good yourselves,” said Jimmy. “From what you’ve told me,
you’ve been in the hot sun for two days, even though from the looks of your
skin, it doesn’t indicate anything. So I suggest you think before you say
anything. Yes, you are right, I smell bad, but so do you!” He removed the fuel
nozzle, put the gas cap on and got back in the car before gunning the engine
again and driving off.
“I wonder what
“Well we
aren’t orcs,” said Jimmy. “So I guess there’s no
doubt about it.”
“But where did
these things come from?” Deshi asked. “They appeared
after Sailor Moon was defeated for some reason. “Do you think there’s a
connection?”
“Sounds like
it,” he replied. “I’m not entirely sure if they have anything to do with Sailor
Moon, but after she was defeated, these attacks started. Personally, I think
there is a connection between them. Of course, that’s just my hypothesis. I
really don’t know where these things came from.”
“So when are
we going to stop?” Denchu asked. “We’ve been on the
road for 3 hours now, and looks as though the sun’s setting.”
“Jeez, you
guys are tired after only three hours?” Jimmy asked. “I’m the one who’s been
living in this car for 10 months!”
“Yes, but we
were walking all day and night,” said Denchu. We’re
tired!”
“Alright!”
Jimmy said. “I’ll find us a place to—Hello!” Jimmy brought the car to a stop,
suddenly. The girls were not too pleased about this, not one bit.
“What is wrong
with you?” Denchu asked, clearly not happy. That’s
when Jimmy pointed out something.
“You see
that?” He said. “We’re near Area 51. That’ll be a perfect place to stay!”
“Area 51?”
Said Denchu. “Are you a conspiracy theorist or
something?”
“No, I am
not,” he replied. “What I meant is, that not only can we stay there for the
night, we can pick up some supplies there! There’s no doubt they have
generators, so we’ll be able to have a hot meal there.
“But what
about the actual base?” Said Denchu. “It might not be
habitable.”
“There’s only
one way to find out,” said Jimmy. With that, he turned down the road to the
possibly abandoned former military base of Area 51.
--
“Wow, this
doesn’t look too bad,” said Deshi as she, Denchu and Jimmy got out of the car. The base was still in
good condition, unlike other buildings they had come across. It seemed to have
only been abandoned the previous day, it was in such good condition.
“It must have
been in use longer than we knew,” said Jimmy. “I’m guessing that the Orcs didn’t know about its existence at all.” He had a
point. There seemed to be no evidence of any Orc
attack at all, just abandoned buildings and hangars.
“But when do
you think it was abandoned?” Denchu asked, as she
wandered around the buildings. “And why would they abandon it?”
“Maybe less
than 10 months ago,” he said. “Probably no little as just last week. And I’m
not sure why. Maybe they were worried about orcs.”
“Holy cow,”
said Deshi. “So then this place looks like we can
live here for now.”
“Maybe,” Jimmy
replied. “We have to find our way into the buildings, first though.” He began
looking around the base for any open door. Unfortunately, most of the doors
were locked. “Grah!” He growled at one door, trying
to pry it open. After a few more buildings, he did find one door that was
open—the door to the mess hall. “All right!” He said. “Come one, let’s find
something in here.”
Because it was
dark, Jimmy turned on the light switch. Sure enough, the generators must have
been working, because the lights did indeed turn on. “Wow,” said Denchu. “So this place is working.”
“Appears to be
that way,” said Jimmy. They looked around the mess hall before noticing Deshi was not with them.
“Deshi?” Denchu called out. “Deshi!” Her second one was more frantic, as she was worried
Deshi might be lost.
“Over here!”
She called back. “I’m in the kitchen!” Jimmy and Denchu
ran over to the kitchen to find Deshi. Sure enough,
there she was—raiding the pantry.
“Deshi, what are you doing?” Denchu
said with a scolding tone of voice.
“I’m hungry!” Deshi replied. Jimmy and Denchu
rolled their eyes in response.
“Yes, I know
that,” said Denchu. “But first, you shouldn’t look
for something that’s probably expired. And second, don’t eat so much!”
“Oh, but I
want a donut!” Deshi said, practically whining.
“I swear she’s
not always like this,” said Denchu to Jimmy. Jimmy
didn’t really care about the pantry, though. He had eyes on a bigger prize.
“Jimmy, where are you going?” Denchu asked.
“To find the MREs,” said Jimmy.
“MREs?” Denchu asked, confused.
“Meal,
Ready-to-Eat,” said Jimmy. “If they’re stored right, they can last for years!”
“So what does
that mean?” Deshi asked.
“It means that
we won’t have to worry too much about the damn things going bad,” he said. From
what it looked like, he had found the room where they were. “If you store them
at 60 degrees, they can last for up to 130 months or more!” He finally managed
to pry the door open and went inside. “WOOOO-HOOOO! It’s the mother lode,
ladies!”
“Yeah, and
they probably taste bad,” Deshi said as she and Denchu entered the room. Inside, was a room full of boxes
containing MREs. Jimmy himself had a device out, and
looking at it. Then, he smiled. Apparently, something was good.
“The
temperature here is close to 60 degrees,” he said. “And from what it looks
like, these things are still good.” After opening up one box, he brought it
over to the two girls and showed them something. “You see this red dot?” He
pointed to a sticker on the package. It was a small dot inside a darker one.
The small dot was brighter than the outer one. “If the inner dot is brighter
than the outer circle, it means these things are still good,” said Jimmy. “As
you can see, they’re good.”
“So we’re
eating those?” Deshi said, looking disgusted.
“Yep!” Jimmy
replied. Deshi and Denchu
look at each other and stuck their tongues out, as if to say they were
disgusted by the prospect. Jimmy was not pleased. “Look, you guys can starve if
you want to, but I’d rather survive on bad food than starve just so I can get
some cake!”
“I hate to say
it,” said Denchu. “But you bring up a good point.”
Her stomach was overriding her tastebuds, apparently.
Eventually,
they would forget about their distaste for this stuff and wolfed down their
foods, leaving Jimmy to watch in astonishment. “Come on, you two,” he said.
“We’re probably less than a week from Cerulean. At least leave some food!”
“There’s 50
boxes containing those things in there!” Denchu
shouted back. “We’ll have enough!”
“Jeez,” said
Jimmy as he took a bite out of his MRE.
“So Jimmy,”
said Deshi in between bites of her MRE. “How come
your town was not hit during the initial attacks?”
“I’m not sure
why,” said Jimmy. “I guess because we were a small town with very little
meaning, just a dot on the map. Turns out we weren’t so insignificant after
all.”
“What do you
mean?” said Deshi.
“Well, we were
attacked by orcs,” said Jimmy. “That should tell you
something. They came out of nowhere, like so many eyewitness reports. So, where
are you two from?”
“
“
“We were on a
train when we heard the news that LA was attacked,” said Denchu.
“Since we were outside the city, we survived. From what we hear, very few
people from
“Considering
most of the urban population of the
“We were on
our way to see a friend in a Pokemon tournament,”
said Deshi.
“I used to
train Pokemon,” said Jimmy. “Unfortunately, I lost
them in the orc attack. I just have my music—and you
guys—to keep me company. Of course, I have come across the occasional town that
still exists.”
“You mean
it!?” Denchu said with excitement in her tone. “There
are still towns out there that survived?”
“Well, a lot
of the ones I came across ended up suffering orc
attacks,” said Jimmy. “Either before, during, or after I visited the towns.”
“Oh,” said Denchu in a despondent tone. She had really hoped there
were some places that survived.
“Of course,
some of those, I think may have survived anyhow,” said Jimmy. “Cerulean is the
last city on the face of the Earth that’s still functioning. Small towns are
just barely eking out an existence. The ones with farmland near them, like
mine, have been doing fine because they were able to make their own food. Of
course, you see how that turned out.”
“That’s
rough,” said Deshi. “I’m beginning to wonder if we’ll
even make it to
“Hey, don’t
worry,” said Jimmy. “We’ll make it. ‘Ol Mike’s only
two years old. He can handle it.”
“Mike?” Denchu asked, confused. “Who’s Mike?”
“Oh, I forgot
to mention,” said Jimmy. “I’ve been calling my ‘Stang
‘Mike’ in honor of my dad. I…” He stopped, apparently choked up. He recovered,
and said. “I lost him in the orc attack. I call the ‘Stang ‘Mike’ to honor his memory. He’s the one who taught
me all I need to know about surviving this apocalypse and about cars. He also
told me to head for
“Oh, I’m
sorry,” said Denchu.
“No, it’s
okay,” said Jimmy, wiped a solitary tear from his eyes. It was apparent that
the loss of his dad did indeed affect him. “I have to move on. I can’t focus on
the past, it’s what he would have wanted. He would have wanted me to live on;
which is why he let me take the ‘Stang he and I had
been working on for so long.”
“Oh, that’s
nice,” said Denchu.
“My mom was
like his dad,” said Deshi. “She told me to escape
when our party was attacked. So did your mom, Denchu.”
“Yeah,” said Denchu. “Without their help, we wouldn’t be here eating
cardboard food with a total stranger. And we wouldn’t be close to Cerulean,
either. I guess we owe a lot to our parents.”
“Then should
we raise a toast to them?” Deshi said.
“Yes, let’s do
that,” said Denchu. The three of them raised up their
water bottles in a toast. “To our parents,” said Denchu.
“They brought us into this world, and they saved our lives. To my mom!”
“To my mom,”
said Deshi.
“To my dad,”
said Jimmy. The three of them touched their bottles together and took a drink.
“For you mom,”
said Deshi. Then, out of the blue, she said something
to Denchu that got Jimmy wondering. “I had that dream
again,” she said.
“What dream?”
Jimmy asked.
“It’s…
nothing,” said Deshi.
“It’s not
nothing,” said Jimmy. “If you say something like ‘I had that dream again’, it
means it actually means something.”
“I had it
too,” said Denchu.
“See?” Jimmy
said. “Wait, what?” Now he was confused about just what they were talking
about.
“Really, it’s
nothing,” said Denchu. “Just eat your MRE.”
“You know, the
longer you keep denying,” said Jimmy. “The more curious I’m going to get.”
“We said it’s
nothing,” said Deshi. “So butt out of our dreams!”
“Okay!” Jimmy
said defensively. “I was just curious!” Jimmy would not be able to ask any more
questions about that dream.
--
Later that
night, the trio enjoyed a hot shower. The base still had running water,
allowing them to use it for showers. They just weren’t going to use it to drink,
because of the possibility of disease or something. Jimmy himself shaved that
night, as he was getting a small beard. It wasn’t much, but it was barely
noticeable. Deshi and Denchu
shaved, too.
“See, ladies?”
he asked. “Now do you see the benefits of scavenging?”
“Sort of,” Deshi replied. “You’re still a dirty thief.” Jimmy sighed
in exasperation. There was just no way he was going to get them on his side.
--
“I hate these
beds,” said Denchu, trying to sleep on the barracks.
“Would you
prefer the ground?” Jimmy asked.
“No,” she
replied. “There’s no way in hell I’d ever want to sleep on the ground again!”
“Then deal
with it,” said Jimmy. “A hard military mattress is much better than the
ground.” Denchu sighed in exasperation. This guy was
going to be the death of her. But he did have a good point, as once she got
comfortable, she fell asleep quickly and had the best sleep she’d had in
months.
--
Next thing she
knew, she was standing in a strange land; in front of her stood a white
building that resembled a palace. In the night sky above her, she could see the
Earth. It was then that she knew what was going on. It’s the same dream; the
same one as Deshi.
“Come in,”
a voice beckoned to her. Night after night, she resisted the voice’s call. But
this night, she swallowed her pride and followed the voice inside the building.
She was going to go inside this time. There was no stopping her. Whatever was
going on, she was going to find out.
--
Buuuuuuzzzzzzzzz. Nope. The sound of Jimmy’s alarm clock
interrupted her sleep right then and there. Once again, she would not know what
was going on in that dream; interrupted by the gear head’s phone. “Damn it,”
she said as she rubbed her eyes.
“Rise and
shine, ladies,” Jimmy called. “We need to get going got a long day of driving
ahead of us.”
“It’s
“No,” said
Jimmy. “We need to load the car up with the MREs.
Then we have to eat, take a shower. You know, the usual.”
“At least
you’re letting us take a shower,” said Deshi.
“Otherwise I would have killed you.”
“Well, I’m the
only one here who can drive that ‘Stang,” Jimmy
responded. “So don’t get any ideas.”
Deshi walked up to Denchu’s bunk, shaking her
head. Then, she noticed the look on Denchu’s face.
“What’s wrong?” She asked.
“I had that
dream again last night,” she replied. “And I almost followed the voice.”
--
After a nice
hot shower and breakfast, Jimmy, Deshi and Denchu all loaded up enough MREs
to last them at least two weeks. The trunk was completely full, packed with
things like his suitcase, a tent, some sleeping bags, a cooler, a lot of things
you wouldn’t expect to fit in the back of a Ford Mustang. Then, with their
stomachs full and their car as well, they hit the road, bound for
--
(Soundtrack: “Rockin’ Down the Highway” by the Doobie
Brothers or “Born to be Wild” by Steppenwolf)
With their
destination on their minds, the trio drove to
But that was
just fine for Jimmy, Deshi and Denchu.
It just made the trip to
As Jimmy
adjusted the radio, he came upon something. It sounded like a voice. Although
he couldn’t hear it so well over the static, he could definitely hear it: A
transmission from Cerulean. It fazed in and out, mostly due to a surprisingly
weak signal. He stayed on the frequency, before turning back to his music. They
drove for two more days, stopping at night to bathe, eat and sleep, and get
gas. By morning, they would be awake and back on the road. Although there was
little risk of oc attack, it wasn’t really ocs Jimmy worried about. The trip only took longer than
expected because Jimmy had to find routes that would take him directly to
Cerulean. They had been taking the Extraterrestrial Highway earlier, but there
was no way--for some reason to get to Cerulean City directly from that highway,
which is what caused their trip to go longer than expected.
In the
meantime, they trio just relaxed in the car--as best they could. There really
wasn't a hurry--even though Jimmy was worried about any possible company.
“Are we there
yet?” Denchu asked as she awoke from a nap on the
third day. She and Deshi were starting to get stiff
necks from sleeping in the car.
“No, not yet,”
said Jimmy.
“Well, why
not?” Deshi asked. “Doesn’t this road lead directly
to Cerulean?”
“Apparently
not,” said Jimmy. “The GPS keeps telling me I’m going in the wrong direction. I
assume this road is the right one."
“Well, let’s
hope it is,” said Denchu as she and Deshi went back to sleep. Jimmy shook his head and focused
on the road. Then, all of a sudden, he spotted something in his rearview
mirror. It was small, but closing in quickly. Jimmy was concerned. He wasn’t
sure, but he hoped his fear wasn’t confirmed. Then, he saw more objects bearing
down on the car. His eyes widened. His fears were indeed confirmed.
“Oh, shit.
Hey, wake up,” he said to the two of them frantically. “Wake up!”
“Ngghhh, what is it?” Denchu
groaned as she woke up.
“Get ready, we
got company,” said Jimmy. “Road pirates!”
“Pirates!?” Denchu shouted. Her yell woke Deshi
up. Well up.
“That’s what I
said!” Jimmy replied. “Road pirates, bearing down on us from behind!”
“Oh, no!” Denchu shouted.
“What are
they?” Deshi asked.
“You ever see Mad
Max?” Jimmy asked. He saw the two nodded their heads in response. “Then
you’ll know what I’m talking about. These guys are nasty! I’ve had to deal with
them myself before. Deshi!”
“Yeah?” She
asked nervously.
“You see that
box near your feet?” He said. Deshi looked down and
noticed a military box near her feet. Why hadn’t she noticed that before?
“What are
those?” She asked.
“Grenades,” he
replied. “I took them from Area 51, hoping I’d be able to use them. Well, it
looks like I will. Buckle up; we’re in for a bumpy ride!” At that point, Jimmy
gunned the accelerator, speeding away from the road pirates.
Much like what
Jimmy said, the road bandits looked like something out of a Mad Max movie.
Their big, bulky vehicles may not have looked like much, but they were
dangerous as hell. There were five of these attack vehicles, crewed by four
people. And yes, they wore Mad Max-style get ups. The most blatant Mad
Max rip-off in history, no doubt.
Their leader, Greaseham, checked the Mustang on his binoculars and
watched it speed up. He smiled malevolently. The chase was on. “Well now,” he
said. “Looks like the mouse knows we’re here.” He pulled out the radio and
said, “Speed up! We can catch this thing!” The other vehicles accelerated on
his words. Greaseham smirked again, like a sadistic
hunter. This little pony was not going to escape.
“They’re
gaining on us!” Denchu shouted. Jimmy didn’t really
react, as he was trying to grab his gun from the glove compartment. It was a
Colt Peacemaker.
“Never thought
I’d have to use this,” said Jimmy. He placed the gun in his lap and said, “Denchu! Get up here, right now! And don’t question me,
either!” Denchu, not wanting to cause trouble,
squeezed into the front seat of the car. Don’t ask how Jimmy managed to crash,
even he doesn’t know.
“So what now?”
Denchu asked.
“Deshi, hand me a grenade,” he said. “It’ll slow ‘em down and possibly give us time to escape.”
“Um, okay,”
she said nervously. She reached down and grabbed an M67 grenade from the box.
Jimmy then pulled the pin and the lever out, before rolling the window down.
That’s when he stuck his arm out and released a grenade behind him and sped up
again to avoid the blast.
Greaseham watched the arm stick out of the pony and release the
grenade. Knowing full well what it was, he shouted, “Break!” The vehicles all
broke to the side, but the grenade exploded near them anyhow. The resulting
blast and shockwave knocked out a motorcycle. Greaseham
growled in anger. It turns out the mouse had some tricks up his sleeve.
Jimmy,
meanwhile, laughed as he saw the grenade explode behind him. Deshi and Denchu, meanwhile,
watched in amazement. “You’re insane, you know that?” Deshi
said.
“I’m not
insane,” said Jimmy. “I’m just prepared. Hand me another one.” Deshi handed him another grenade, and he pulled the pin and
lever out of that one and released it behind him. It too, exploded. “Denchu,” he said. “You should use one.”
“Um, I’d love
to, but,” she said. “I don’t know how to use one!” Jimmy nearly banged his head
on the steering wheel. Yes, he was trying to steer with those grenades in his
hand.
“Look, it’s
real easy,” he said as he gestured of another one. “Watch me.” He pulled the
pin out, and while still trying to steer, pulled the lever out too, then
released it outside the car. It too, exploded. “Got it?”
“I think so,” Denchu replied. She too, pulled the pin and the lever out
and flung it out into the road. Once again, the grenade did its job and
exploded.
“Dammit!” Greaseham shouted. The
cars and bikes in his little ‘fleet’ were being decimated by the pony. He had
no idea that there were passengers in the car! Oh well, all the more better.
Especially if they were female—that was even better than before!
“Great job!”
Jimmy said to Denchu. The blue-eyed girl smiled
weakly, not exactly proud with what she had done.
“Um, thanks,”
she replied. “I guess.”
“Um, Jimmy?” Deshi asked. “What will these guys do if they catch us?”
“Well, if
we’re lucky, they’ll just take our gas and leave us here to die,” said Jimmy.
“If we’re not, then, well, you don’t want to know.”
“I’m not sure
if I do,” said Deshi.
“Just trust
me, I’ll get us out of this,” he said as he held up his Colt .45. “We’ll get to
Cerulean.”
Greaseham licked his lips. He could taste the women’s flesh. There
is no need to tell you what he plans to do, it’s pretty obvious. He urged two
of his motorcycle men forward. Both of them, wearing the same savage, punk-like
clothing, sped forward in front of the main fleet. They would catch the pony.
“Oh, shoot,
motorcycles!” Deshi yelled. Jimmy looked in his
rearview mirror and noticed them coming.
“Oh, shit,” he
said. He rolled down his window again to prepare to shoot the motorcycle men.
They would be in for a world of pain if they ever damaged his dad’s car.
The two
motorcycles eventually caught up to the Mustang. The two of them flanked the
car, looking for a way to run it off the road. “Pull over, ya
piece of shit!” One yelled. Jimmy ignored him. “Pull over, and we’ll go easy on
ya!”
“Fuck that!”
Jimmy shouted as he pointed his pistol out the car window. Then, he pulled the
trigger and fired at the motorcycle. One shot missed, but it did get the rider
off balance for a moment. Then, Jimmy aimed his pistol at the motorcycle’s tire
and fired. The tire exploded and the bike began wobbling before it crashed to
the ground.
Denchu, meanwhile, had to deal with a woman who looked like Wendy O.
Williams. The woman yelled, baring her teeth. “Jeez, you need to brush more!” Denchu shouted as she grabbed Jimmy’s gun. Then, she
pointed it right at the woman and fired, this time hitting her. The woman fell
off the bike and the bike sped over to the side of the road and crashed.
Greaseham roared in anger. This was not happening! “All of you, get
that car!” He shouted. “I want! THAT!! GASOLINE!!!!”
“Oh, wow!” Denchu shouted in delight. “I can’t believe I did that!”
“Don’t
celebrate just yet,” Jimmy said. Sure enough, two more motorcycles pulled up
aside the two.
“We’ll make
sure ya never reach
“You sure
about that?” He replied. “Because we seem to be getting pretty close!” He
pointed in front of him and the pirate, Deshi and Denchu looked in front of them. There it was. There wasn’t
much to see, but like the sun rising, a large, gray-colored dome could be seen
rising from the horizon.
“It’s the
dome!” Shouted Deshi.
The pirate,
noticing the dome, reached for Jimmy, but had to deal with Jimmy’s gun as he
shot him, hitting his hand. The pirate screamed in pain and grabbed his hand
before falling off his bike.
“The dome!”
One bandit shouted. Greaseham, surprised by this,
looked and saw the dome of
“All of you,
ATTACK!!!” He shouted. At the moment, the pirates sped forward, trying to catch
Jimmy, Denchu and Deshi.
“Oh, shit!”
Jimmy said as he noticed all the attack vehicles speed up. “I really don’t want
to use those cans.”
“What cans?”
Said Denchu.
“Can’t tell
you,” he replied. “Just grab another grenade. NOW!!!” Denchu
did as she was told, taking a grenade from Deshi.
Jimmy did so as well, and the two released their grenades at the same time,
causing some of the vehicles to swerve off the road. But they were not out of
the woods yet. They still had 5 vehicles to deal with. Out of the original
five, that number had grown, peaking at 11. And it didn’t look as though it was
going to get any smaller.
“I’m really
not sure we’re gonna make it,” Deshi
said nervously.
“We’ll make
it, don’t worry,” said Jimmy. “Just get me another grenade!” Deshi handed him and Denchu two
more, and the two of them threw the grenades out the window. Unfortunately,
those didn’t do anything, much to their displeasure.
“Keep on
them!” Greaseham shouted. The vehicles bared down
again on the Mustang, determined to run it off the road. “You can’t hide,
little mouse!” He shouted. “You’re OURS!!!!!” The vehicles continued to bear
down on the Mustang. From the outside, it seemed helpless. But with the dome of
Cerulean rising in the distance, it was only a matter of time before the
Mustang would reach the city walls. The pony had to be stopped before it got
anywhere near the defense systems. If they got to the outer barrier, then they
would only be a short distance from the city gates themselves. He had conquered
all who had tried to reach the gate. This one would be no different, in his mind.
Two dune
buggies pulled up to the side of the car. Jimmy noticed this and pointed his
gun, which he had reloaded, out the window and fired at the wheel. It seemed to
do nothing, so he pulled out a grenade and threw it into the dune buggy’s
window. It seemed to work, because the dune buggy fell behind and swerved off
the road before exploding.
Denchu, meanwhile, was also dealing with another dune buggy, this one
trying to grab her. “Come ‘ere, poppet!” The driver shouted.
“In your
dreams, sicko!” She shouted back. The man grabbed her
arm, essentially grabbing onto Jimmy’s car. He noticed this and pointed his gun
at the man. It became a tug-of-war with Denchu trying
to keep her arm inside the Mustang, while Jimmy tried to point his gun at the
pirate. “Get. Off. ME!!!” She shouted. Suddenly, a bolt of electricity
appeared, and shocked the bandit. Denchu watched in
shocked amazement as the bandit, stunned by what just happened, fell out of the
car and onto the road.
Jimmy looked
on in amazement. “What the hell was that!?” He shouted. Denchu
simply looked at her hand, wondering just how in the world something like that
could happen. For some reason, she thought back to the dream, Could the two be
related somehow? And with her nearly reaching the building last night, did it
have anything to do with this? Her thoughts were interrupted when she
remembered she had more important things to worry about.
Greaseham looked on in disbelief. Did a bolt of lightning just
appear out of the pony? There was no way that could have happened! But it just
made him more determined to catch this car. Just think of the possibilities! He
could attack Cerulean with this power! “Keep on them!” He shouted. “I want that
power!”
By now, they
could see more of the dome. It wasn’t a whole lot, but since it could be seen
on a clear day from many miles away, it was good enough. The grey reflected off
of Jimmy’s sunglasses. His teeth were clenched and his hands gripped the
steering wheel in a white-knuckle ride. He pressed down on the accelerator again,
hoping to outrun the bandits. He was running low on grenades, and he had a girl
who could conjure lightning. That part of the story was the strangest part. How
the hell was anyone going to believe him? He grabbed another grenade from Deshi’s hands and released it behind him. Whatever it was,
it didn’t matter. All that mattered now was getting to
On top of his
vehicle, Greaseham growled. The muscular, bald road
bandit was determined to catch the little pony. There was no way the most feared
road bandit of the Wastes would allow a little car to escape, and yet, here it
was; a blue, 2011 Ford Mustang GT with a Sprint Cup wing on the back. Just the
thought of letting it escape infuriated him. There would be hell to pay if he
ever let this one go. But just when it seemed his band would catch them, some
news came.
“Sir!” His
driver shouted in a frantic voice.
“WHAT IS IT!?”
He shouted back, frightening the driver.
“There’s a
large number of objects incoming from our nine o’ clock! It might be them!”
Greaseham’s eyes widened. No! There was no way they were coming! But
with the Mustang decimating his small fleet, and these new objects on their
way, he had no other choice. “Break off pursuit!” He shouted. “Fall back, now!”
“They’re
giving up!” Deshi shouted from the back seat of Jimmy
McAndrew’s Mustang. Jimmy looked in his rearview
mirror and noticed them break off the attack. At first he smiled, but that
smile quickly faded. Something was wrong.
“This is bad,”
he said. “Road pirates usually don’t break off their attacks like this.” He
slowed the car down and stopped on the side of the road. He grabbed his
binoculars and his cowboy hat and got out to inspect.
“Jimmy, what
are you doing?” Denchu asked from the passenger seat.
“Something
must have drove them off,” he said as he turned back. “I’m going to check.” He
walked over to an area with higher elevation about a hundred yards away to see
if there was anything. He brought the binoculars to his eyes and looked. Using
his digital binoculars, he could see farther than any regular binoculars. He
scanned the horizon to the west, east, north and south for whatever it was. “It
don’t see anything,” he said. “I think might in the cl—”
Then, he stopped. His jaw dropped, shocked at what he was seeing. “No,” he said
silently. Then, he turned around and ran back to the car as fast as he could.
Deshi and Denchu saw this and immediately
realized something was the matter. There was not way he’d look this frightened.
“What is it?” Denchu asked.
“Did you see
anything?” Deshi asked. They watched Jimmy race back
to the car. They couldn’t see him closely, but from what it looked like, there
was an expression of fear on his face. Something was definitely wrong. And his
next word confirmed it.
“ORCS!!!”
--
To be
continued
--
Notes
[1] Jimmy is
my character, not a Soldier character.