“That sounds way too complicated,” Recker said, standing up as he interrupte
d Dr. Evans. “Wait here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
As the captain walked off to talk to a couple of officers standing near the bulldozers, Rick and Dr. Evans looked over at the shop where Jackson was still standing over Jane. She appeared to be talking to him and looked like she was in good spirits, but neither man wanted to interrupt Jackson while he was still working on her so they decided to stay on the bench and wait for Recker to return.
A few minutes later Recker walked back to them and motioned for them to follow him. “Come on. You’ll want to see this.”
“Can we check on Jane first?” Dr. Evans asked.
“She’s in good hands. As soon as Jackson’s done with her, he’ll let us know. Come on, this way.”
Rick and Dr. Evans followed behind Recker, who headed down the street the way the officers had come from, heading for some unknown objective. After a couple of blocks Recker turned the corner and the three men found themselves in front of a pair of officers who were standing around a couple of Capitol Police squad cars, both of which had their hoods open.
“How’s it going?” Recker asked. The men turned to look at him, saw Rick and Dr. Evans and instinctively reached for their weapons when he raised his hand. “Relax; they’re fine.”
“You sure, sir?” A short, stout officer with a thick mustache and a cap that was halfway on his head eyed Rick and Dr. Evans suspiciously.
“One hundred percent. Now tell me how it’s going with the cars.”
“They’re both running, Captain.” The other man, a tall lanky fellow, wiped his hands on a dirty rag. “Engine’s still rough on this one but I think they’ll both get us where we need to go.”
“Good. Get the other one ready to roll out. I want two rifles, two thousand rounds of five-five-six, five hundred rounds of nine mil, two weeks’ worth of food, a weeks’ worth of water and a couple of purifiers in there within thirty minutes.”
“Sir?” The shorter of the two officers looked at him in confusion.
“Also,” Recker continued, “Make sure the inverter works properly. These gentlemen need to be able to run a computer so don’t forget to check that before you’re done.”
Both officers stared at Recker unblinking, looking as though they had just heard him speaking to them in Mandarin. “Cap… did you… what’s this for?” The tall officer finally replied.
“Your funeral if you don’t do what I’m telling you.” The response was hard, and the two officers glanced at each other before replying to their leader.
“Yes, sir. We’ll have it ready for you.”
“Good. Bring it down the street to the ‘dozers when it’s ready. We’ll be there.” He looked at Rick and Dr. Evans. “Come on, let’s head back.”
Rick waited until they were back around the corner before replying to Recker. “Captain, we appreciate the gesture more than you realize, but it’s really not necessary. We had a vehicle outside the city, an electric car, but we couldn’t bring it in. Maybe if you could help us get—”
“No time for that for either of us. As soon as your friend is patched up we have to get back on the move. And you three will need to keep going, too. We’ve got a few older squad cars that didn’t get burned up that we’re working on restoring, so we’ll be fine. And we can spare plenty of weapons and ammo for you, too.
“You three do what you need to do. We’ve cleared several of the main streets so you’ll be able to move back and forth with ease. The squad car’s got an inverter and a battery big enough to power whatever you throw on it, so you’ll be able to run any systems that are left standing. Assuming you can find them, of course.”
“Captain,” Rick said, stopping and tapping Recker on the shoulder. “Thank you. I don’t understand why you’re helping us like this, but it’s incredible.” Rick extended his hand and Recker shook it, looking the man dead in the eyes.
“You’re welcome, Rick. If we few who are left don’t help each other, what’s the point of surviving?”
“Captain?” A voice from behind Recker made him turn and he smiled at the sight of the person walking toward him.
“Jackson! What’s the good word?”
Jackson pulled off his disposable gloves with a loud snap and threw them to the ground. He looked at Rick and Dr. Evans as he spoke. “Your friend is extremely lucky. There were metal shards on the ground and the rubble drove her legs onto them, embedding the metal in her calves and thighs. They just barely missed her major arteries, though, so she’ll be fine. We got the metal out and patched her up.”
“Can she walk?” Rick asked.
“It’ll hurt like hell for a few days, but yes. She can walk. I’d advise against it, though, but I’m no doctor so do whatever you want.” He tossed a small bottle of pills at Dr. Evans. “Make sure she takes these twice a day for the next week. Her stomach’s going to be a mess but they’ll keep the wounds from getting infected.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
“Doctor?” Jackson laughed. “I’m no doctor. But you’re welcome. She’s back at the shop, resting until you all are ready to move out.” He looked at Recker. “I assume you got them some transport, Captain?”