“You see, I'll just be honest,” David continues, “I gave Gene the pack so I wouldn't get caught sick from smoking,” grinning as he hands the pack.
It's hard to tell what direction the tornado is advancing. All they know is a subtle 35 mph wind could start blistering in intensity.
“Gene, channel 23 is picking up new broadcast,” said David. He unplugged the headphones and turned the volume up.
The broadcast went, “If anyone is picking up this 10 mile radius message, there is a safe house from the tornado storm. Radio in for a location light show.”
Gene didn't even let the message repeat. He quickly took the radio and called in, “Requesting light show. Requesting light show.”
A car dealership like light show began to circle the back clouds. A voice then proceeded, “My generators can keep these lights up for a month. Don't take that long. Good luck. Name's Brad.” A virtual voice then followed, “Hello, this is an automated information directory. Please state the nature of your situation.”
“10 miles away. Do you see my headlights?” questioned Gene.
“I have no vision. Please describe the cloud's lighting pattern. Is it more of a square or diamond? Please say one,” reacted the automated system.
Gene replied, “Diamond.”
“Is the pointy side facing towards or away?” the system asks.
“Towards,” states Gene.
“Approximately how many minutes has the radio signal been clear?” the system requests.
“Two,” approximates Gene.
“How fast have you been approaching? Mph. Please,” continued.
“Seventy,” reads Gene.
“Please slow down to 30 mph. You are approaching a dirt road with a 42 degree immediate left veer. The storm is now 8 miles from your location. It's going to miss my estate by 6 miles. Your travel should experience up to 40 mph winds. Your veer should be complete now. Is it?” asks the system.
Gene confirms, “Yes.”
“Please proceed straight to our estate. Though unnecessary, you may accelerate to 60 mph. An ideal speed of 38 is recommended. Good luck. My name is Ikibiki and I'm on standby. To activate, simply ask a question,” said Ikibiki.
“Describe structure,” Gene asks.
“The mansion is 90 percent marble and 10 percent wood. Its three stories high with an iron bunker basement below. At 12,000 sq. ft., it holds: a library fit to guide new world order, a computer lab comprising of twenty 2010 AlienWare desktops and electronic accessories, one year's provision of Chinese, Japanese, and Italian food fit to please a heavy construction crew of ten, and a mini twenty five foot radio tower,” Ikibiki replies.
“What color panties do you have on?” interjected Eagle Eye.
“I don't wear panties,” Ikibiki admits.
They all laughed. The rest of the ride went by quietly, as Gene assigned everyone to window watching duty for flying debris.
It didn't take long to reach the mansion's entrance gate.
“Open Gate,” Gene ordered over the radio.
The gate slowly opened.
Chapter 11
Safe For Now
Freshly pave road, paralleled by rows of coconut palm trees, guided them to the mansion’s maple wood double door entrance. David, the most eager to open a door, attempted to pull one. "Won't budge, the door's either too heavy or locked."
Sir King stepped in and pulled on the left door handle; locked. He tried the other one, still nothing. Gene went back to the Hummer to get his radio. David pressed the door bell's luminous lime colored leaf shaped button; triggering a bird melody to echo throughout the mansion.
“Check it out. The door is unlocking,” David noticed.
Gene got on the radio. “We're coming in,” he announced.
Ikibiki turned on the main lights with an announcement, “Welcome to Brad's crib. There are many rooms here. Please feel free to browse and roam as you please. Keep in mind to not enter Brad's room. He has many personal belongings there; nothing that will benefit your safety or quest. Thank you.”
Gene ordered everyone to get their radios, soon realizing he's the only one that forgot. In the mood for a good book, he asks Ikibiki where the library is. She guided him to a roomy two story library research lab. In it, he finds a scattered pile of independent research paper done on some key foreseen signs of the current shit storm and its inevitable chaos.
After raiding the kitchen to find something to cook, Sir King had a change of heart and asks Ikibiki if there's an armory on site. She replies, “An armory is located in the basement bunker. It's easiest to take the elevator located next to Brad's room on the third floor. There is a stairs in case of power outage trailing to a shed located in the backyard. You are welcome to choose either way.”
Buckoy and Russell, overhearing Ikibiki, follow Sir King to the bunker. Eagle Eye and David stood outside smoking cigarettes in the Hummer blasting a Black Sabbath album. David, after the radio had been idle for a minute, asks Ikibiki if there's an entertainment room. Ikibiki announces, “The entertainment room is located on the first door to your right after the main front entrance. There's eight 52'' LED HDTVs centered on each wall of the octagon shaped room. We have all the latest gaming consoles, including those dating back to the box shaped Nintendo. Included is a complete selection of popular games varying in age group and genres for your entertainment.”
David, with a joyful inquiring posture, challenged Eagle Eye to a gaming face off of consoles. He had a sense that Eagle Eye would prove to be a gamer at heart. A feeling based on Eagle Eye's favored down time, playing cards. His deck is slightly worn by light fades and minor tints of dirt stain. He's had this deck for two years. The noticeably conscientious care of that deck turns its worn impression into a commentary second thought of, 'Oh wow... those are some durable cards for going on two years.' The deck's cover had clear tape laminating its exterior; not for repairing purposes, but to preserve the mini blue envelope enclosing a letter his wife wrote. David saw Eagle Eye read this letter many times. Now curious, David asked if he could have a read for shits and giggles. Eagle Eye, off reminiscing about old shit talking gamer days, barely noticed David talking to him; sensing David's intent, “Sure kid, but promise to be delicate with it. This letter means a great deal to me.”
David assures, “Don't worry, I'll promise to be gentle and read it in the Hummer.”
“Sounds good,” says Eagle Eye.
It read as follows:
Dear Eric,
I feel sad to break the news that our business obligations will inevitably put a great distance between us. Boeing just promoted me to an executive international sales coordinator position. As you know, I've been dreaming of this since Job Core. That high school event truly set the bar high for me. Preparing for the executive Boeing tri-pot style interview proved to be one daunting task. If just one chair said no, it'd be over. Boeing's CEO called me yesterday. Being flooded with emotions, all I can remember is one important quote, “We're looking for cream of the crop replies to verbal and written exams particularly in the following categories of: aerodynamics, material engineering, public relations, and Boeing propaganda.” Being essentially a nervous wreck about interviews, I found myself trying to simplify elaborate interview procedure methods into much needed reality checks. It didn't seem like any traditional approach would make the cut for a vividly lasting impression. I panicked a bit, but eventually reassured myself that I'm still game. Rather the interview is rapid paced or idle, there's opportunity to impress. I took that mindset straight to the interview board. They dished out technical inquiries requesting elaborately condense and concise answers. The first thing that came to mind was having forgotten to consume some chocolate. The questions weren't exactly cakewalk, but I pictured the topics to be more controversial. With my foxy impression, as of August 19th 2014, my official job title well now is 'Executive International Sales Coordinator.' Macho talk of me being promoted to a male position spread across some corporate floors. I'll show them what's
up.
I know you're fond playing cards, especially those Diamond decks. I think its funniest thing ever that you haven't purchased a pack just from my disapproval. Don't go losing all your money with it in one place now. Eleven more months hon. Get that honorable discharge now you here! You have it in you. Stay in contact babe. xoxoxo
Yours truly,
Rachelle Booker
Not sure about leaving post, Eagle Eye radios in a request, “Permission to babysit David in the entertainment room.”
“Granted,” said Gene.
“Watch out, he's an avid gamer,” added Russell.
“All the better,” Eagle Eye replies.
David starts with the basic politics, “The rules and point scoring system are as follows: all consoles will be played in time, each person gets to pick two games per console to challenge, one point is given to each game, and two points given to each console.”
Once they reached the entertainment room, deciding on what games to play took a moment. Fifteen minutes passes by and they settle on Super Nintendo. Ten minutes later, the games were chosen: Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, and Bomber Man.
Meanwhile, Square Face roams around the mansion at awe with the furnishings. One portrait really stood out to him. A large wax painting of Theodore Roosevelt preparing his troops in battle saddled on a horse. On it read one of Theodore's quotes, "A troop of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come." Square Face, liking it so much, began reciting it into memory.
Back at the armory, Sir King started loading the Hummer with some of the latest and greatest warfare equipment; that stuff you see on the Military Channel. In it was the first weapon Sir King ever gave a man's name to, 'Rambo', a titanium rocket launcher with a full six round ammo box. He's second find, in which he named after Paris Hilton, is a three round burst assault rifle, designed with a 90 degree folding widget, with an attached leading pointer camera able to display any targets around corners. “This will come in handy for structural invasions.” He named it 'Paris Hilton,' for she too bends easily.
Buckoy finds some nice snipes and offers Russell one, “You want to learn some tricks of the trade?”
“Sure. It'd be an honored. I've witnessed your accuracy.”
They both took the stairs up to the mansion's backyard. From the front of the shed, anything beyond nine feet of the mansion seemed invisible. Buckoy asked Ikibiki to turn on the back lights. As they lit up, Buckoy's jaw dropped. The back of the mansion appeared to be one big targeting arena of trees, dolls, and pop cans attached to used accuracy scoring sheets scattered everywhere. Buckoy just found heaven and Russell gained some excitement to learn.
While time passed by quickly, as everyone is amusing themselves, Gene turned out to be the last to sleep. He stayed up soaking in all the validity of Brad's research and started thinking of a questionable retreat back to Uncle Mark's base. The research showed an 87% probable hurricane onset scaled to demolish both Crater Lake and the very mansion. It's said to be due no later than 65 hours from now, but as soon as tomorrow evening.
Chapter 12
The Vote
The sound of the mansion's doorbell woke everyone up the next morning.
Seconds later, Gene, sounding a bit over reactive, radioed, “Secure the main entrance. Double time.”
Sir King, Eagle Eye, and Buckoy moved into position, each claiming their ground over radio. Eagle Eye and Buckoy staked out on the second and third floor with snipes found from yesterday's armory search. Sir King, holding a holstered pistol, decided to be the door greeter. Russell, not having a weapon, decides to be backdoor lookout. Square Face is said to be in the shower, and no one knows where David is.
Sir King steps up to the peep hole and sees nothing. Someone starts lightly knocking on the door. Sir King still sees nothing. Gene walks out of the library room and tells Sir King unlock the door.
It turns out to be David. He clarifies the situation, “I just went out to smoke a cigarette, and the doors lock on me. This was about a half hour ago. I didn't want to wake anyone up, but it got cold. Sorry guys, didn't mean to stir everyone up. My bad.”
Gene followed, “I really didn't think this was going a serious situation to be honest. I wanted to gather everyone up here to talk about Operation BomberMan. We were detoured by a tornado that has now passed, but that doesn't mean we'll have bearable weather conditions carrying this out. I've just learned yesterday, through Brad's independent research, that there's an 87% chance of a hurricane hitting both Crater Lake and this area. The soonest it'll hit is this evening. At the latest, 57 hours from now. I'm putting this on you guys. Attack or evade?”
Sir King steps up and motions, “I say we change the operation's name to Armageddon and demolish their evacuation transport system with this new hefty rocket launcher I dug up. Having six rounds, I'm confident we put an end to this tyranny with tactical precision.”
“All for, say I,” surveys Gene.
It came to be a unanimous vote. Now it's up to Russell and Square Face. David goes to inform his dad, Gene to Square Face.
Four minutes later, Russell radios his approval. Gene and Square Face are found walking down the stairs together. Square Face tells everyone, “I'm all for it, and a bit relieved. Do you know what the punishment for defection is in my country? Don't even get me started. How am I supposed to act casual planting C4 everywhere? Go Operation Armageddon!”
Chapter 13
Enemy Territory
With Square Face's pinpoint GPS coordinate, Buckoy and Russell's smooth evasive night vision driving, and Gene's map reading, they are now in view of the fortified base camp.
“How are there so many of them,” David asked, while overlooking the base's luminescent occupation.
“Look! A mini airbase. That handful of carriers gots to go. Lord have sweat mercy,” gestured Sir King.
Square Face preceded, “Before anything, we must take out the commanding officers. Nothing is done without orders. They'll go in circles from initial attack. There are three generals overseeing this base. If I'm not mistaken, they're all located at the central tower at this very moment. I'm sure from the level of activity commencing. Hand me a radio real quick. I can tell you what they're up to.”
Sir King goes to prepare the rocket launcher. Gene orders everyone else to stay in the vehicles. A few seconds pass as Square Face flips through the frequencies. He then interprets the news, “A N. Korean carrier recently radioed in a violent hurricane tailing them from behind. Orders of an evacuation where given. The storm's coming in westbound at approximately 74mph. There’s lots of commotion about starting a north base. We got 5 minutes for tactical impairment, leaving about 10 minutes for one hell of a road trip.”
“Pick the six target areas Square Face,” ordered Gene, “and turn these cars around. Let’s make this quick.”
Square Face leads, “Target one, command tower. Target two, airbase. With fuel supply barrels scattered all over, it'd take at most two rockets to level it. Target three, armory. Our armory is actually that group of camouflaged buses you see by the left gates. Target four, main food supply; that being the large white tent next to the air base. And target five, the north gate. That ought to do it.”
“Cakewalk, I got 100x zooming vision with a laser guided rocket system, I'm bad,” Sir King gloats as he takes aim and nails each target one after another. “Dynamite, enemy withdrawal nullified! Move out,” he commands.
Thousands of bullets lit the sky in their direction. Buckoy and Russell, still using night vision, hit the gas. Gene insures the group, “We're going head south towards a bottleneck Russell knows about. There we'll lay down tire strips quickly. Keep in mind, our enemy only packed machine guns. As long as we keep up speed and maintain distance, we'll persevere.”
“It's going to take a group effort to lay down these strips. I kinda packed ammo boxes on top of them. I need Eagle Eye and Square Face to help unload the ammo boxes with me and Gene. I also need you guys to
quickly load them back up as Gene and I am laying down the tire strips. Russell and Buckoy, be prepared to hall ass out of this place as soon as we're back in the vehicles,” ordered Sir King.
Little time passes when they've reached the bottleneck. All went to plan. There were no visible cars chasing them yet, although two helicopters appeared to be tailing them. Gene was worried. They were running low on gas from the trip to Crater Lake. It looked inevitable that the two copters were going to catch up. “Any ideas guys?” said Gene.
Square Face looked really depressed, like it as his entire fault. He couldn't stand having been a part of the terrorist movement. But then he gets an idea and shares, “I have a plan. A, we fire at the helicopters from this distance and hope they fall. B, if they persist, I'll radio in a false backup and hope they turn around. I knew some of these guys in the Korean Air Force. I gots this lingo covered.”
“Well, you heard the man. Open fire!” ordered Gene.
Round after round, it seemed both parties were getting nowhere shooting at each other. The copters were approaching to 150 meters. “Start the transmission already,” David urged, nervous from seeing the Jeep's radio antenna being shot off.
Square Face picks up the radio and starts talking Korean. The helicopters advance to 100 meters. Both cars were taking on more damage. They had to stop firing back at the copters to avoid suspicion over the radio. After 3 long minutes, Square Face got the helicopters to turn around.