“You’re right. Let’s get inside and chow down.” Long passed him and went through the front door.
Something about the guy wasn’t sitting right with him. None of them were angels—he knew as much—but Terry Long was a legitimate mystery. He’d wished he’d spent some time investigating his files while they were all in the prison. It never crossed his mind. Now, a nagging instinct told him he couldn’t fully trust the man. On a mission such as his, lack of trust could get people killed.
He looked back once, to ensure Kevin and his pile of candy were settling in. It would shock his LT back in ‘Nam to know he was allowing a sentry to eat from a bag of treats, but he had to work with what he had.
“It’s going to be a long night.”
CHAPTER 13
Fort Collins, CO
Ted had no idea what Emily was trying to pull, but his confused glances between her and the camera seemed to catch the attention of the newswoman. She whistled loudly to catch his attention. “Hey! You! They’re talking in the studio, so I have a second off-air. Stop flirting with your friend and stick by me.”
Chastised, he looked directly at the woman. She seemed to take it as acceptance, so she faced the cameraman again. “This next segment, I want to walk toward the trucks and get some vox pops. Man-on-the-street type stuff. You guys know what I’m talking about, right?”
Todd and Louis nodded quickly. She looked at him a moment later. “You and Typhoid Mary better keep an eye on me, or I’ll report you directly to David himself. I’m a big deal, don’t you know?”
He knew better than to open his mouth, but he couldn’t resist. “My friend over there said she recognized you from the old America. Mentioned remembering you on a commercial for an…anti-diarrhea medicine?” His inflection ticked up at the end, conveying a sense of surprise.
Darla appeared mortified. “Diarrhea? Do I look like someone who would do such a sick commercial? I was on freaking network news. I worked at the White House! Before that, I ran the floor at Channel 7 in Denver.”
“I’m sorry,” he lied. “Maybe she’s still hallucinating from when she had the flu bug. Sometimes, guys and gals like us aren’t the brightest bulbs in the chandelier.” In the span of sixty seconds, he’d been able to insult the woman to her face, then pan every guard in America wearing black. He felt good about what he’d done, but he needed to take the edge off by making her talk about something more interesting and less provocative. “If you were such a big deal, you must have been somewhere special when the attack came in.”
She stomped across the pavement until she reached the sidewalk where he’d taken up overwatch. After composing herself, Darla answered his question. “I was in a hole with everyone else, of course. Banking guys. Corporate honchos. It was a real who’s who, let me tell you. And now, they’ll all see my face on their television sets. I have no competition in this market as long as you do your freaking job!”
Ted acted as if he was really impressed by her. He smiled, pretended to listen, and held his gun at the low-ready, as if bad guys were about to attack at any second. However, he kept half his attention on Emily across the street.
She remained on the edge of the big parking lot where the cranes would soon offload the cargo, but he also had a good view behind her, including the black SUVs, the TV van, and his own vehicle. But far beyond those, a tractor trailer hauled a silver tanker, which he assumed was a driver who’d been separated from the convoy. If the fleet was as large as Darla claimed, there would soon be trucks parked on every street for miles around. He needed to get out of there as soon as possible. Commandeering a transmission was no longer a viable option. They would find a different way to communicate with the outside.
Darla was back in front of Todd’s camera. “I am now standing close to the unloading zone here in Fort Collins. All over the Old World, trucks like this are delivering supplies for our heroes at the front lines of this cleanup effort. Each truck is bringing in robotic help for guard duties, surveillance, and demolition. Human handlers will be paired with each one, of course, but one woman could potentially control dozens of them at one time, giving her tremendous reach.” She turned on the charm. “I wish I could get my hands on a drone or two. I have some ex-husbands I’d like to sic them on.” Her laughter sounded real, but it could have also been polished delivery of her lines.
From his spot, the vehicles came in from right to left, ending at a line of parallel trucks at the head of the convoy, directly in front of Darla. It gave her an opportunity to walk toward them and get an interesting angle on how the cranes dropped down and unloaded the materials. As her guard, he followed.
“These beastly trucker machines are doing their jobs, for now, but someday they, too, will be chewed up and destroyed by our robotic friends. In time, we will look back on this news report with yours truly, Darla Forrester, and hardly remember how large these vehicles really were.” She leaned against the chrome bumper of the first big rig.
Ted again noticed the tanker truck behind Emily. It was heading their way, but it had some cloth or tarps blowing around on its sides. His first thought was the driver didn’t properly secure his load, but he remembered it was a tanker; there was nothing to secure.
He absently stepped closer to the reporter.
Darla continued to drone on about the robots, the simple unloading methods, and how proud she was of herself for being there to record it. No
