Unlucky
Jerusalem-Persian border - December 28
It was a quiet night in Mesopotamia, which was surprising given the circumstances. The quiet part, that was. A dusty truck rolled up the hillside road. Inside, Angelica sat behind the wheel, driving as fast as she could. Tania was riding shotgun, her rifle at her side as always. Everyone else in their group was sleeping in the back. They’d picked up the truck in Kirkuk, which was one of the few Mesopotamian cities still under rebel control following last year’s nuclear attacks.
Much faster than taking the trains or traveling on foot, and now the border is within sight. Not much longer now. That is, if Angelica didn’t take the long way around.
“I’m telling you, we should’ve taken the abandoned tunnel. They wouldn’t be monitoring it.”
“And I told you, the tunnel isn’t driveable. I saw rubble at the entrance. We wouldn’t have been able to drive through it.”
“We have a large truck. Shouldn’t we be able to just…plow through?”
“You forgot two things, Tania. First, trucks aren’t as durable as in the movies. And second, I’m not licensed to drive a truck. None of us are.”
“I hope they aren’t monitoring the pass.”
“We don’t have a choice. If they’re there, we’ll have to fight our way through.”
These are not good places to use a sniper rifle. Come on, we’re almost there…
Angelica reached the pass, and the road leveled off. Her headlights found nothing out of the ordinary.
“Coast is clear, at least from what I could tell.”
Tania scanned the area with her scope. “I wouldn’t be sure of that.”
The headlights illuminated an Argus barricade they were about to hit.
I stand corrected.
“
Yebat. We should’ve taken the tunnel.”
Angelica instinctively…floored the gas pedal.
“What are you doing?!”
Angelica shook her fist. “Come and get me, you Argus motherfrakkers! This is for Bloody Tuesday!”
---
Angelica’s truck appeared at the top of the hill. The glare of its headlight would have briefly blinded Josh, but his Panopticon dulled the brightness so he didn’t even need to blink extra. He simply raised his hand, and his squad readied their guns.
They’ve fallen right into our trap. Now it’s time to squash these bugs for good.
“Ready…”
“Uh, Josh? They’re not slowing down.”
“I can see that.”
The truck continued barreling down on them.
Now.
“Fire!”
The squad opened fire, sparks flying off the grill and bumper as bullets struck them. The windows shattered, but Josh couldn’t see anyone behind the wheel.
Where’d the driver go? Did they…duck? Then how were they driving?! Oh wait…
“Get out of the way!”
The squad scattered to the left and right just as the truck slammed through the barricade and continued on its path. Josh got to his feet and watched it drive away.
“Don’t let it get through!”
---
Angelica got up from ducking and was instantly blasted with cold nighttime countryside air. The windows had been destroyed by the gunfire.
Doesn’t matter. We’re almost there anyways. Only thing that matters is being able to drive.
“
Ouf! I can’t believe that actually worked!”
Tania sat up. “What the hell did you mean that actually worked?”
“I thought the barricade would be too sturdy, or the truck would fall apart. Turns out the movies didn’t get it all wrong.”
They heard shouting from outside, followed by bullets zipping past. Someone knocked on the back of the cab.
“I just woke up, and why are there people shooting at us?!” Ruby said.
“Sorry, we ran into a…roadblock!”
Technically true.
Tania facepalmed. “
Liggja þig.”
“Anyways, can you help hold them off? We’re almost to the border.”
“I just wanted a good night’s sleep, for once…” Ruby said.
---
Argus rushed to their vehicles, waiting motorcycles. Josh eagerly got on his motorcycle and started the engine. It took two tries for the stupid old machine to start up, but he soon sped off, his squad behind him.
Why did the Franks bother with such an inferior outdated vehicle? They could have easily chosen a superior one, but they stuck to this one. At least I’m putting it to better use now.
As he closed the distance to the truck, he raised his rifle with one free hand and fired. The rest of his squad also fired, raking the back of the truck. Leo commanded his drones to swoop down and begin shooting the truck from the sides. The truck’s back doors swung open, and Ruby, Billy, and several other rebels returned fire. Josh and his squad swerved to avoid the gunfire, making sure not to fall too far behind. Josh gunned the accelerator and closed the distance even more. He fired again. Billy and Ruby took cover, but some of their comrades weren’t so lucky. Two rebels were shot in the head and fell out of the truck, tumbling onto the road and disappearing into the darkness. He would have shot more rebels, but his gun clicked. It was empty, and he couldn’t reload as long as he was driving. So he shouldered his rifle and prepared his new weapons.
I can finally use these properly.
---
Billy looked behind him, making sure the smallpox sample freezer was still safely secured. At that moment, he heard a scream from the guy next to him. He looked back in front and saw a metal cable embedded in the rebel’s chest. Before he could react, the cable retracted, and the man was pulled screaming out of the truck to his death. A second cable pinned another rebel to the wall by her hand. Electricity then surged through the cable, electrocuting her to the point where her arm blackened and gave off smoke. The cable then also retracted, and Billy followed it back to the young man leading their pursuers.
“Concentrate your fire on that guy!”
---
Drones repeatedly approached the cab, trying to get a clear shot at Angelica and Tania. Tania took Angelica’s pistol.
“Hey, that’s mine!”
“Sorry, I’ll have to borrow this!”
“What for?!”
Tania fired at any drones getting too close to the cab. Despite having no scope and barely any visibility, she managed to get off a few hits, but that wasn’t her goal. Once the drones had been forced back into a small cluster, she loaded an EMP round into her rifle and fired, disabling the entire cluster in one shot.
“For that.” Tania smugly put down her rifle.
---
Leo’s tablet suddenly went to static. He tapped furiously on it, but it was no use. He couldn’t contact his drones.
“Damnit!”
---
“Damnit, damnit, damnit!” Angelica pounded her steering wheel.
“What is it?” Tania said.
“That last shot of yours…it kind of took out our own electrical systems.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, nothing major, just our
goddamn headlights. What, you didn’t notice?”
Oh…I just realized. The headlights are out. The EMP went off too close.
The only sources of light now came from Argus’ motorcycles. They were driving completely blind.
“This isn’t good. If this road turns, I won’t know.”
“Then what do we do?”
“Hope there isn’t a turn.”
Of course, just at that moment, the truck crashed through a safety railing and careened off the road, lurching and tumbling down a rocky hill. Angelica and Tania bounced in their seats.
“Oh come on!”
Why’d you have to say that?!
The truck entered a wooded area. Angelica tried to swerve around the trees, but she couldn’t avoid them all, and eventually a tree slammed into the cab engine dead center, bringing the whole vehicle to a halt.
“Well, there goes that,” Tania said, “Everyone out!”
The rebels vacated the truck and turned on flashlights. Tania looked around, trying to get a sense of where she was. There were initially no defining features about the woods, just the usual trees and bushes. But then her light fell on what looked like the wreck of a car.
“Wait, what’s that?”
Angelica illuminated the car with her flashlight.
“Huh, by the looks of it, it’s been here for a while. Vintage model too, on top of it.”
“So you’re saying it’s been here for decades?” Julian said.
“Oh, no, if it was, it would be even more beaten up. I’d say it’s been here for a few years. Maybe they were fleeing Red Christmas this way. Though I wouldn’t know who’d take a vintage car on an escape tri…oh no…”
She stopped talking. “I…I recognize this car.”
“So do I,” Billy said.
“Me too,” Ruby said.
“Wait, you do?” Tania said.
“This is Angela Hansen’s car,” Angelica said, “No doubt about it. A black Impala, 1967 model. Can tell from the headlights and general shape. And if I were to look at the license plate…”
She went to the front. “It…it
is her car. So this is where she ended up, didn’t she? Last I saw of her, she was driving the Impala out of Bremerhaven, planning to go pick up her family in Damascus and then escape into Persia. Guess they never made it.”
“They could’ve gotten out of the car,” Tania said, “There are no bodies here.”
“The bodies could’ve been dumped in a ditch.”
“Or it could be another al-Dud situation,” Julian said.
“Hey, not f-funny! Let’s not talk about that!”
“Well, I know for a fact this
is her car, and it clearly took a beating,” Billy said, “Crumpled up, looks like it got flung around and flipped over several times, burned as well. If they survived all that, they probably died to whoever was responsible.”
“It’s just like with my mom,” Angelica said, “I always wanted to learn what happened to Agent Hansen. And to think she died in these woods, so close to freedom…”
“Hey, this talk is sad and all, but I think we should stay on the move,” Ruby said, “Maybe turn off our flashlights so they can’t spot us?”
“Don’t bother,” Julian said, “Their Panopticons can still spot us anyways. And we need the flashlights so we at least know where to go. We’d be blind sitting ducks otherwise.”
“Okay, let’s move,” Angelica said, “If I remember correctly, the border shouldn’t be that far east of here.”
“The border doesn’t really mean much these days,” August said.
“Actually, it should still mean something. The Persians reinforced the border as much as possible. It’s how they’ve been resisting any incursions from Mesopotamia these last two months. We should expect to run into some fortifications there.”
“Unfortunately, you won’t get there,” Josh said.
Argus charged in from the west, guns blazing. Bodies dropped like flies before anyone could react. Within seconds, Billy and Ruby were the only survivors of their cell. They dove for the ground, using the bodies of their fallen comrades for cover.
Angelica raised her pistol. “
Merde! Return fire!”
“Julian, August!” Tania said. “Take the sample and run!”
She handed the freezer to August, who ran east with Julian. She loaded her rifle, but it was impossible to aim in total darkness. Everyone else took cover behind the trees, occasionally taking shots which all missed. They could not see without any light, and they couldn’t safely aim their flashlights. Meanwhile, Argus could easily see them through their Panopticons.
Why did we have to spend too long chatting in front of the car?
Tania looked at Angelica. “Angelica, tell me you know how to get us out of this one.”
Angelica shook her head. “Sorry. Looks like this might be the end for us. Guess I spent too long at the car, and now I’ll die right where my namesake did.”
“Don’t say that. We can still survive.”
“We can’t even aim!”
Tania looked at her rifle.
Let’s see…think, think. I took out those drones back there. Wait, aren’t the Panopticons an electrical device? And didn’t my bullets have some effect on those soldiers in the camp?
“I don’t need to aim.” She loaded an EMP round into her rifle.
“What, blind firing? What good would that do here?”
“No, not that, I don’t know how to do that. But I need you to draw everyone into the same area.”
Angelica nodded, realizing what she was planning. “I’ll try.”
She ran from behind the tree and fired randomly. As soon as she drew Argus’ attention, she backtracked and ran the other way. Volkard and Colmar took the bait and moved closer to Alder and Leo’s positions. All four concentrated their fire on Angelica, forcing her to take cover behind the Impala wreck.
“Billy, Ruby!” Tania said. “Target the straggler!”
Billy and Ruby fired on Gustav, forcing him to take cover behind a tree near Colmar. Josh, though, didn’t take the bait. He looked at Angelica.
“Angelica Haus. You were named after Angela Hansen, weren’t you? Well, wouldn’t you like to know how exactly she died?”
Angelica gripped her gun with both hands. “Shut up!”
“You should know I was there. That day, exactly four years and two days ago. I put a bullet between Angela Hansen’s eyes myself. The look on her face when she realized she had failed to protect everyone she cared for, when her hope collapsed into complete and utter despair…it was a glorious sight. I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment.”
Angelica fell for the bait. She ran from the Impala. “YOU WILL PAY!”
But her gun clicked. It was out of ammo.
“…
merde.”
This went horribly wrong. Improvising!
Tania fired at Josh. Josh noticed her movement, presumably with the Panopticon’s aid, and stepped out of the way just as a bullet zipped by, embedding in a tree behind him.
“Your bullet…it missed me.”
He stood there, quietly. Several tense seconds passed, but Josh didn’t move.
“Uh…” Angelica said. “Weren’t we…in the middle of something?”
“What—what did—did you do?!” Josh demanded. “I can’t move!”
“We can’t move either!” The other Argus men also seemed similarly paralyzed.
The tree Tania hit turned out to be right in the dead center of Josh’s squad.
It…IT WORKED?!
“I…can’t believe that worked!”
“I—I’ll kill you!” Josh said.
“Not while you’re paralyzed.” Tania reloaded her rifle and prepared to shoot him, but her gun jammed.
“OH OF ALL THE DAMN TIMES IT COULD’VE JAMMED, IT PICKED NOW?!”
WHAT THE HELL, DOLA?!
“Everyone, shoot them while they’re down!” Angelica said.
“Wait, I’m out of ammo!” Billy said.
“
Merde, so am I!” Ruby said.
“Wait, how are we
all out of ammo at the same time?!” Angelica said.
“And I’m not out of ammo
but my gun jammed?!” Tania said.
From extremely lucky to extremely unlucky. What the hell is happening, Dola?! Does this have anything to do with what happened in al-Dud?
“Well, only one thing to do, then. Run!” Tania took off.
Angelica nodded, following close behind. “Let’s catch up with Julian and August!”
Josh could still grimace despite being paralyzed. “This isn’t over! Don’t act like you can just walk away from me like that!”
They left their paralyzed attackers behind. Tania tried her best not to listen to Josh’s many curses and slurs. It was actually pretty easy once they had gotten far enough away. The remaining four of them quickly put distance between themselves and Argus. Soon, they were alone again.
My Dola betrayed me. At the worst possible time.
“Well, that was…stupid of me,” Angelica said, “Sorry. I was caught up in the moment.”
“We’ll talk about it later,” Tania said, “But for what it’s worth, I probably would have fallen for it too.”
“You would have?”
“If that man had said the same thing about my aunt, there would be nothing holding me back either. By the way, was that guy telling the truth regarding Angela Hansen?”
“Did I tell you he was responsible for killing my squad and Director Frank in Bloody Tuesday? It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume he then killed Angela. I hate Josh’s smug face. I hate that he always gets away with it.”
Tania patted Angelica’s shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Once we get the sample to Persia, we’ll be safe.”
At that moment, a squad of soldiers emerged from the bushes and surrounded them.
“You just
had to jinx it, did you?” Angelica said.
“Why is it we’re so lucky and unlucky today?!” tania said.
Can I get new Dola?
One of the soldiers stepped forward. Recognizing the rebels’ outfits as clearly not those of Crusaders, he took off his night vision goggles. “
Salâmo alaykom. You must be the rebels we heard from young Mr. Julian.”
Julian appeared behind the soldiers. “Sorry about the welcome party. I explained the situation to this patrol, but they’re a little tense lately. They don’t want peace to be upon Jerusalem.”
“Uh…hello,” Tania said, “Admiral Tatiana Kirova, Scandinavian Navy, ID number 668536. Yes, it’s a long story about how I got here, but you can verify my ID by getting in contact with the Scandinavian Admiralty. I can vouch for the others.”
The soldier nodded. “Understood, Admiral. We’ll do that as soon as we can. Please, if you’ll follow us, we’ll take you to a safe location for debriefing.”
“What about the freezer Julian had?” Angelica said.
“We are well aware of the biohazardous material you brought. “It is in quarantine right now, along with the individual August von Schweinfurt, who was presumably with you, until we get a specialized team ready to handle it.”
“Oh, thank goodness!” Angelica hugged Tania excitedly. “We did it!”
“Let me be the first person to say this: welcome to Persia.”
But at what cost?
---
I know it's a contrivance, but I couldn't figure out how to have Tania and Angelica narrowly escape an ambush like that without killing Josh and his squad, so the Worm shenanigans continue.