The Great Lockdown by The Perrone Brothers

Author:The Perrone Brothers [Brothers, The Perrone]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2022-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Redwood

2020

“I can't believe we made it out of there. When I fell, I thought it was over for me,” Ace said, looking through the slats of the train car door. “Where are we anyway?”

Hunt stood up and walked to the door. “Well, let's see. Judging by the green hills and the cows, we are in the middle of nowhere, California,” he said with a laugh. “We should be getting close to Sacramento.”

Trevor and Ace had changed into the soldiers’ uniforms and spent most of their train ride talking about what they thought would become of the world. The conversations usually ended in painful silences as they both remembered the people they’d lost and the lives they’d left behind. The thought of living another healthy day while not under the government's control was the only motive Trevor had left. Ace just wanted to make it back east to see his family again.

“So, what is the plan when this train stops? What if it doesn't actually go all the way to Sacramento?” Ace said, running a hand through his hair.

“If we make it to Sacramento, we will try to find my cousin, Jimmy,” Hunt replied.

“And if we don't?” Ace said with an edge to his voice.

“We will put these uniforms to good use,” Hunt sighed.

The train came to a screeching halt, knocking them to the floor of the boxcar. Scrambling to his feet, Ace ran back to open the door. “Why’d we stop?”

He peeked around the corner. “Hunt, you're not going to believe this. There are tents everywhere. It's an entire community!”

Hunt stood and joined Ace as they gazed at hundreds of tents in a grid system. All around the tents were the tallest trees Ace had ever seen.

“Hunt, this isn't Sacramento, is it?” Ace asked, shocked.

“No, Ace, this is not,” Hunt mumbled. “How far north did we actually go? Are we in Yosemite? Ace, you see that? That's the military. The Army, the Marines, and look over there, the Navy. This looks like a refugee camp!”

Ace and Trevor looked at each other and then down at the Navy R.O.T.C. uniforms they were wearing. “Quick,” Ace said as the other cargo doors opened. “Hide!”

The pair found refuge behind a pile of burlap sacks. One by one, soldiers approached the train and removed boxes from the cars. Forming a line, they systematically passed each box to the next soldier. They piled them in stacks of threes near the biggest tent.

“This must be a supply train,” Ace whispered. “The Navy is probably looking for us. What the hell are we going to do now?”

Ace panicked. “Ace,” Hunt whispered. “Look!”

Trevor pointed to a few Navy soldiers who were also wearing R.O.T.C. uniforms. They appeared to be on break and were kicking a soccer ball around near the tree line.

“We need to befriend them, find out what is going on here, and then get the hell out,” Hunt said. “I'll take the lead. When that last soldier picks up a box and turns, we need to move quickly and run to the tents without being seen.

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