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Last Man Standing - Part Two
A Short Story by Hyrum Zaragoza and Dianna Zaragoza
‘Location A’ – what was left of the Katy walking trail – was
overgrown and almost gone at this point. Artie went as fast as his feet and ski
poles would carry him, and even that had to be on side roads hardly ever used
anymore – most traffic took the speedways, now that cars were going obsolete as
personal transport. He bumped and ramped over the broken roads until he turned
a corner and saw his cohorts – Lieutenant Melvin Quinn, Sub-lieutenant Joe
Davis, and Corporal Jeong Ing-Chul.
“Where’s your uniforms, guys? I’m out in the open now –
we’re not safe to just stand still anymore. Gotta get moving.”
“Man, what are you talking about? It’s just us. We haven’t
got a leg to stand on against Dr. Eames…” Melvin’s face was as astonished as
the other two at his appearance.
“The game’s afoot, Lieutenant, no stopping it now. We’ve
gotta move fast. Dr. Eames and his flying monkeys are on their way. Melvin,
you’ve got to get the word out – Facebook, Twitter. Joe, get on Instagram,
Snapchat, the Get to Steppin’ channel at YouTube. Jiang, notify the Walkers
Anonymous channel. Tell everyone to be in front of corporate to witness what
happens. Go out to Fort Worth, to Denton, to McKinney, Rockwall, everywhere
there’s support. And Jiang – at least get your jacket and hat, so we look like
something other than janitors when we show up to get arrested.”
Jiang started. “Arrested? You think they might?”
“I think they’ll try. Before they do, I want as many
eyeballs as possible on us, in front of the corporate office. They hate
press attention, so I want as much press as you can kick up. Did you follow all that?”
An echo of ‘yes’ went around the group.
“Then go – go now! Jiang, I’ll go with you back to your
house. Jacket and hat – and maybe boots. Tread lightly – there’s spies
everywhere.”
There had been a lot of funny looks, and a lot of whispers,
as they passed – two men walking briskly. They’d wound their way through
residential neighborhoods instead of taking the main roads, so as the police
had been called, they went to the reported location, only to find shrugging shoulders
and valiant patriots saying ‘they were just here’.
And so the hunt continued, until three hours later, General
Artie and Corporal Jeong, clad in their resistance leathers, stood defiant in
the shadow of the gleaming glass corporate headquarters of New Republic Chair
and Table on Ervay Street.
Jeong carried a flag of two footprints, one in front of the
other, on one shoulder. They stood, almost casually, waiting for their next
move.
“Did you hear from Lieutenant Melvin?”
“Yes, sir – he just texted to say all messages are out, and
he’s arriving shortly.”
“No – no no no. Text him back to stay hidden. We can’t all
be captured.”
“Sorry, sir – he’s…”
Melvin’s voice came up behind them, and the two sets of feet
running announced the worst – that Joe was also with him. “Stepping up, sir.”
“We’re not letting you stand alone, sir.”
Artie did not turn, but sighed and faced the building again.
“I guess so. If there’s no reinforcements to be had, at least we can sit down
swinging. It’s been a pleasure working with you men – with all of you.”
Jeong turned to him. “Don’t give up before we’ve even
started, sir.”
“Oh, we’ve put our foot in it now…”
As Jeong turned back, several squadrons of black hoverchairs
darkened the skies over the regular hoverchair traffic. On each side of them,
they moved into position – north, south, east, west – all surrounded, the
whirring a gentle noise that belied their swiftness and accuracy.
The garage-sized side doors to the corporate building swished to one side, and more hoverchairs holding men and women in suits moved
forward and off a little to the side.
“Mariana!” Jeong whispered.
Artie’s missing wife Mariana was among them, her beautiful
raven black hair pulled tightly back on her head, her gray suit hanging on her
shoulders, her eyes downcast. Silver cuffs around her wrists pinned her hands
inconspicuously to her soft chair, but she showed no signs of struggling to get
away.
“They’ve got their tail between their legs!” Melvin
whispered under his breath.
“Enough. This is our sole purpose, men. Stand in formation.”
The four foot soldiers circled back-to-back, facing all
directions, staring down all the lines of black chairs that hovered above them.
So many had been swept away to re-education camps, pinned to their chairs,
until they gave in, but they would not be taken by surprise today.
***Part Three on the way tomorrow...
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