Chapter 9: Into the Lion's Mouth

"We should be coming up on it soon right?" Mark yelled over the wind and engine, "Where are we at now?"

"We haven't hit the 'U.S. 24 bridge over Canon Avenue yet, we are almost through Colorado Springs, I think," replied Rich in an equally loud manor. "The GPS is back on! Oh man like five seconds of battery…common…common. Sweet ok we are at 38°51'44.30" North 104°54'26.41" West…oh man this is gonna be close. 38°51'47.56" North 104°54'4 something point something else…Fuck this things battery." Rich tossed the GPS devise into the back without looking. "Either way it's going to be fucking close, I bet it's going to be on the right."

Questioning Rich's GPS knowledge, "On the right eh?" Mark noticed something in the distance, "Hey look up there, bridge out signs, we must be close." Mark interjected as he pointed to the road ahead.

Both stared at the road block ahead of them, and then they looked at each other hoping the other has answers or ideas.

Mark suddenly floored the Jeep, "Fuck this noise, let's mob around it.
"Where are the binoculars?" Rich leaned over the seat and began digging through the pile of crap in the back.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Mark questioned as he punched Rich in the ass.
"Hey watch it! I'm getting the binocs, hold on!"

"Hold on? It's fucking coming up in like 30 seconds probably and the only thing you are doing is blocking the right side of my view with your ass, you said it was on the right, right?"

"Right!" Rich yelled from the back, "Fuck off, FUCK OFF! I know I put them back here somewhere!"

"God damn it." Mark felt and looked around down by his feet, "Hey dumb ass, there are up here."

Rich looks back, "What? No way, why didn't you tell me you had them?" He bounces back into his seat with a puzzled look on his face.

"Dude, I didn't know they were up here." Mark replies while trying to maneuver the jeep off-road around the road block.

"Whatever can I use them please?" Rich asked while bracing himself for the rougher terrain.

The city was behind them, it was visually clearer as the rain settled and the sun became visible in the valleys to the east. Mark gave Rich the sought after binoculars, Rich then turned around and looked out the window with them. "STOP!" Yelled Rich, "You're going to miss it!" Rich stared out his window. Mark slammed on the breaks as he glanced to the right at the path that led up a hill into a valley. The Jeep came to a screeching stop then suddenly Mark slapped Rich in the arm. "What the fuck man? Way to help."

"Hey, you're the one who had the binoculars, are you the navigator now?"

"Oh fuck off I'm also driving." Mark throws the Jeep into reverse.

"Oh so you want to drive and navigate at the same time eh? Well what the fuck do you want me to do?" Rich holds the binoculars up to his eyes while yelling at and looking at Mark.

"Fucking navigate! As the navigator you should know where the fucking navigating binoculars are."

"I agree so don't hide them from me anymore."

"You're the one who put them there," Mark glanced at Rich looking at him through binoculars, "Oh forget it!" He then put the Jeep in drive, toward the path.

The short and wide valley became a canyon as the mountainous sides grew taller and valley more narrow. They drove the Jeep into the shadows of the stunning geology. As the rain subsided Mark and Rich exited the canyon pass into an opening harboring an elaborate ancient Manitou Cliff Dwelling. Shock struck their faces as Mark and Rich suddenly gazed upon the wondrous ancient city. The Jeep came to a quick stop as both hopped out for a view. Mark broke the awe and silence, "This place is amazing. It's so beautiful."

"Tell me about it man, let's see who is inside!" With a new spring in his step Rich hoped back in the Jeep, he drummed on the dashboard in excitement. Without haste Mark did the same and drove the Jeep up to what seemed to be the main entrance of the dwellings. The sun was just rising above the hills to the East, as it did, it illuminated the once dark windows and doorways spread though out the Dwellings. Minor desert foliage and cacti layered the dusty earth around them.

As the Jeep came to a stop, Mark turned off the car, both still stared at the cliff dwelling. Rich was first to break the silence, "Is anyone even here?" He slowly turned to Mark.

Mark slowly looked at Rich, "I haven't seen anyone, what do you think we should do, just mob on in there?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"Well, there is nothing like the present, let's check it out." Rich eagerly responded.

They exited the Jeep staring ever upward at the impressive architecture.

"Hey! Cano!" Rich yelled toward the structure.

"Get down on the ground!" A projected voice echoed throughout the canyon. "This is your first and only warning, get on the ground now!"

"What if we don't?" Mark, with a chuckle in his voice, yelled back in response to what he assumed was a fake threat.

The zipper like roar of a 50 caliber machine turret deafened the valley for more than a few seconds with its echo's. The cactus and dirt pile ten yards behind them exploded in a cloud of dust and cactus shrapnel.

Mark and Rich, both shocked and scared, in unison fell flat on the dirt below them. Rich asked, "What the fuck?" quietly to Mark.

"I don't know; this is fucking crazy" Mark whispered in response. They both seemed completely terrified.

"State your names and your nature of business." The amplified voice once again crackled through the cliffs, it echoed more than once only heightening the intensity.

A quick, "Oh fuck" spilled from Rich before he yelled back, "My name is Lieutenant Richard Jenkins, this is Doctor Mark Cramer, and we are here on request of General Sean Kross."

A new, friendly voice came over the loudspeaker, "Well get your asses in here boys, what the fuck took so long?"

Rich started laughing as Mark, still shocked from the gun fire, glared at him. "I fucking knew it" Rich yelled as he jumped up. Mark hesitantly followed as Rich headed inside the Dwelling.

The cool dark hallway gave Mark goose bumps at first; it opened into a bright room with stairs in the back corner. Mark shook it off as he entered the well lit chamber. A few video monitors and other electronics were positioned against the walls. Some weapons sat against a table in the middle of the room. There were two men playing cards at the same table.

"Hey, what's up guys?" Mark casually asked, waving at the men.

One of the men slowly looked at him and pointed up the stairs, "Go up that, to the left, four doors down, another left, to the outside, up two levels, not one but two, on the right, down the path." He then stared at Mark awkwardly, still pointing, until Mark walked in the direction. Then the man slowly looked back down at his cards. Rich was virtually unnoticed by the two men.

Mark and Rich quietly ascended the staircase and take their left.

"What the hell dude?" Rich slapped Mark in the back of the head.

"Ouch! What the fuck was that for?" Mark rubbed his head.

"You back there," Rich began imitating Mark sarcastically, "'Yo Bro, what's the haps dawg?' You being all fresh and gangsta with those guys was probably a bad first impression."

Mark was shocked, "Dude…that guy called you 'Son' so I thought we were all chill and good to go."

"Fuck it, where are we going?" Rich looked around.

"Over here, outside and up two levels, not one but two." Mark replied raising his eyebrow.

"Right…let's find Kross." Rich set a faster pace through the Dwelling.

When they reach the second level they were greeted by the 50 caliber turret that shot at them earlier. This time it was sideways and unmanned, but it still shocked Mark when he first glanced upon it. At a makeshift table in the middle of the room sat a disheveled General Sean Kross. Cano was standing by the table but once he noticed Mark and Rich, he dropped what he was doing and walked over to them.

"Nowg! Glad you could make it!" Cano gave Rich the hand slap into a shake with the pull in and a brotherly back slap. "Awesome! You brought binoculars! Thank god!"

"Captain! It's been too long! You look almost worse than we do." Rich laughed while he took the binoculars off his neck and handed them to Cano. "Always be prepared!"

"Fucking binoculars….so we can be all casual now?" Mark interjected.

"Yea why wouldn't you be?" Cano responded looking to Rich with a questioned look on his face.

Rich, caught Cano's look, then he turned and looked at Mark, "Yea, why wouldn't you be?" A very guilty grin appeared on Rich's face while he obviously tried to fight laughing.

Mark replied, "You Mother Fucker.."

Mark was cut off by Rich, "Those guys were obviously trying to keep their poker faces. You can be so gullible some times."

"Gentlemen, please." Gen. Kross interrupted and stood motioning to the lawn chairs that surrounded the flattened rock table.

Rich, Mark and Cano took a seat with the General.

"Listen, we don't have much time here and the 'long time no see' ritual must wait." Gen. Kross altered the mood to a very business tone. "We are all happy to see each other and that everyone is alive but there are much more important matters at hand. You boys are lucky you got here when you did, we could only last 2 more days here. America is in bad shape boys. Whatever is left of the military is scattered thin and overburdened with tasks, most of which are impossible, it's almost impossible to contact anyone in charge. The only form of any reinforcement will be shattered squadrons and stragglers we find on the way to wherever we are going. In the last few months the human population of Earth has dropped to about two billion if not less. Half of those will die by radiation or starvation alone within the next few months. We have not heard from Dr. Blundquist in over a week. There is a large grouping of enemies between Colorado Springs and Denver, we can only guess this is because of the land quality. We aren't the first to notice that there is more to worry about than human enemies and I'll be damned if we are the last to do something about it. Last we heard from Blundquist was that he was developing something called, 'HealthBots'."

"What exactly is this HealthBot, Sir?" Trying to be respectful, Mark has always been curious.

"Dr. Cramer, we know who you are and what you can do, this is another reason why we waited for you here so long." Gen. Kross was more relaxed in posture and stood up to down, out a window. "BRAD!!" he yelled in a commanding tone.

"How long have you guys been here?" Rich asked Cano.

A voice comes from below, "Yo, what up Sir?" it sounds like the guy who yelled at them through the megaphone when they first pulled up.

"Three weeks," Cano replied to Rich. "Kross got here two days ago."

"We leave tomorrow, o six hundred!" Gen. Kross yelled in return.

"Holy shit!" Rich responded, shocked. "How did you get here so fast?"

"Oh Fuck Yea! Let's ditch this bitch!" Brad excitedly responded.

"I'll show ya! Come on Nowg's, let's get some grub!" Cano put his arms around Mark and Rich, squeezing them both a little then walked to the stairs.

Down to the kitchen tent one floor below, Brad was the first of the gang to be met. With hand extended to Rich, then Mark, Brad happily introduced them, "What's up guys, I'm Brad. Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Rich, this is Mark." Rich politely responded.

"Yo," Bursts Mark "how's it going?"

"Awesome, we are finally leaving! You guys hungry? We just made the chow." Brad pointed at the oatmeal like slurry in a pot that hung over a dying fire.

"Sadly, yes." Mark laughed.

"Guess I've got no choice" Rich raised a brow.

"Eat as much as you can handle, bowls are on the water dispenser." Brad picked up his bowl and kept eating while he pulled Cano aside.

While Rich and Mark filled their bowls and got some water, Topher and Kole came in for chow time. Topher was laughing, "Haha bitch, totally called your bluff. You got nothing!" He waved the money he won at poker in the air.

"Yea, well lucky for me that probably isn't worth anything anymore so ha!" Kole so cleverly responded, putting Topher in his place.

"Hey there are those slackers that finally got here." Topher pointed at Mark and Rich who heard him. Topher walked over asking Mark, "So what really slowed you up so bad?"

Mark, being stared in the face, hesitated only a second and said, "The stupid fucking military."

"Guess they will do that," as he laughed, Topher extended his hand, "I'm Topher, sorry 'bout the look earlier, I couldn't break my poker face. What's your name?"

An awkward laugh busted out of Mark as he stated, "I'm Mark and this is Rich." Mark points to Rich who shook Topher's hand.

"What's up man? Good to meet you." Rich politely introduced himself.

"So who do you know here?" asked Topher

"Cano, General Kross, and we just met Brad." Rich pointed as he named people.

"Word, ok well over here is Kole," Topher pointed to the more scrawny one of the group, "He just got his ass kicked in poker." Topher gave Kole a dominant look with a smile.

"Oh whatever, fuck you and nice to meet you both." Kole flipped off Topher while he waved at Rich and Mark.

Topher laughed as he pointed again, "That's Brent, he's usually a badass."

"Yo!" Brent yelled from across the room, "Bout time!"

"Matt and Ian are down in the garage, over there," Topher pointed to the larger guy next to Brent, "is Tony."

Tony carelessly waved but said nothing to Mark or Rich, he then went back to talking to Brent.

"Megan! Michelle!" Topher looked up and yelled into the air, "Where you at?"

"Fucking right here, dumb ass." One of the girls looked through a little window in the wall.

"Fuck, well I didn't know," Topher, looked like a dumb ass and knew it so he changed the subject, "here are Mark and Rich."

"Oh cool," the girl responded as she looks back into her room, "hey Megan, did you meet Rich and Mark?"

"So do we get to leave now?" a voice, apparently Megan's, exploded from the room.

"At 0 six hundred, get your shit ready!"

"FUCK OFF!" Megan yelled while Michelle turned away, back into her room.

Topher laughed as he looked back to Mark and Rich, "Naw, she's a real sweetheart, don't worry bout it. The rest are down with the convoy." He then turned and grabbed a bowl with Kole.

After a much needed breakfast, Rich and Mark were given a tour of the facility with Cano as he explained to them things that needed to be done prior to departure. As the tour went on of the massive cliff dwelling they finally came upon a large room on the ground level that contained multiple vehicles much equipment.

"Holy crap Captain, do you do this?" Mark asked when he saw what had been turned into a massive garage or storage bay.

"Well me, Brent, Brad, Prescott, and Ian. You like the mounting of the fifty cal?" Cano responded pointing at the first vehicle.

"Yes, that would be classified as 'bad ass'" Mark responded playfully and in awe.

Rich ran up to the vehicle, to closely inspect the modifications. Cano and Mark followed him around as they talked about the arsenal of vehicles that lay before them.

Suddenly General Kross interrupted through the megaphone, "Cano! I need you and Brad up here."

"On the way!" Cano yelled then looked to Rich and Mark, "Make sure to be ready for the morning, we have a big day ahead of us. Kross wants us up for planning and to get early rest for tomorrow, it's going to be one long day, especially when we hit Marauder territory. It's great seeing you again!" he put his open palms out.

"You to man." Rich slapped Cano five.

"For sure." Mark did the same

"Oh yea, over there is Matt and Ian, they have been instructed to give you weapons and gadget training while packing up the supplies." Cano said as ran up to meet with General Kross and Brad.

"Marauder territory?" Marks looked at Rich with one eyebrow raised as they walked toward Matt and Ian.

"Yeah, we should find out about that." Rich raised an eyebrow back, he acted even more worried.

Mark and Rich introduced themselves to Matt and Ian; they talked about the vehicles for some time as they packed for the next day's adventure. They learned Marauder territory was a large area surrounding a major highway intersection, groups of survivors had declared rule and have been assaulting any vehicle not bearing their mark. With humanity in shambles a lawless free for all had begun.

Gen. Kross went over his maps for hours with Cano and Brad until they went to bed some time after an early dinner. Gen. Kross then continued going over paths and backup plans long into the night. The rest prepared the living necessities and supplies while the guys broke down weaponry and electronics long into the night.

Weapon and gadget training was exciting for Mark and Rich, but there was still a lot to take in. They remained awake for many hours. Both knew the other was up, but they just laid there in total silence, looking out to the stars, wondering what the future had in store for them, if they slept at all it was very short and shallow.

Midlogue 3: Change of Plans - Chapter 10: Last Leg