Livid Clouds

Livid Clouds

  By Phuoc An Nguyen

  Copyright 2013 Phuoc An Nguyen

  Chapter 1

  The World as Some Knew

  “Do you hear that dad?”

  “It's just another earthquake son, don't bother. It will go away soon. Get back to work on the radio. See if you can find anyone broadcasting a message.”

  “Yes, dad.”

  For days, it's been dark outside. Hope for any survivors to live depended on how well they've prepared for this moment. Many didn't believe it might happen. Many died.

  A local Professor in Oregon tried to inform his family and peers of how this day will inevitably come. His name's Russell, and he was the reason we made it this far today.

  It was July 5 2014, a day after celebrating Independence Day with bottle rockets and firecrackers. The alarm went off; it was 7am in the morning, time to take medications and turn on the news. Nothing out of the ordinary, not a big surprise; there is still turmoil in the Middle East. It's still a race between the two super powers to diplomatically conquer this oil rich land. But once it became clear that the Arabs and its allies didn't respect Israel's demanded territory, the US knew it might have to intervene or assist Israel in conquering all rivals of the Middle East.

  “Interesting” Russell thought. But he had more important things on his mind, like “How am I going to find an underground bunker with enough food and water to last through the upcoming shit storm?” He didn't know. But he knows where to start, the internet.

  He felt lucky with the finding of this remarkable website, the best he has felt in the past five months. The past being the celebration of Chinese New Year with his family, in which he got to enjoy very traditional food and music with the people he grew up with.

  Anyway, this website was a big FAQ of all the people around the world in the same mental state has him. Some of them listed opportunities where if you were to join the effort in building a bunker, you would be accepted to bunker with them. The only problem was, the nearest bunker build was in Maine, which was clear across to the east.

  Chapter 2

  The Journey to Maine

  “But dad! I don't want to leave all my friends behind. Is there any possible way they can come along with us?”

  “I'm sorry son, but our Jeep is the only working vehicle in miles. We don't have enough room. If we chose to bring them, then we're not going to have enough room for the provisions we need to travel this great distance. I'm just sorry son, I just have to think of us right now and make sure you grow up to understand the things that are going on right now.”

  Dad went back to the basement storage shed and continued loading the Jeep with all kinds of: can foods, Top Ramen, raw spaghetti noodles, pasta sauce, and the family's favorite, canned lychee.

  “Hey son, check the car's GPS and tell me if you're getting any signal.”

  David, his son, climbed out of the basement into the living room to where the Jeep stood parked over the living room's hardwood floor in memory of dad's panic in fleeing a shit storm.

  “No dad, still no signal.”

  “Keep an eye on it son, the satellites should not have been affected by the storm. It's the thick dark clouds that are blocking the signal. I need you to do a favor for me. I need you to dress up into some winter gear and go to that Mini-Mart across the street and find me: a compass, each map, and all the candy you can carry with you after that.”

  It was truly dark outside, luckily dad never went cheap on his little flashlight collection.

  David started talking to himself, “I thought it was just an earthquake. How and why could something like this happen to our town?”

  Honestly David just wanted to navigate his way through the debris to his neighboring friend's house to see how they are coping. But he followed his dad's instructions and hoped for the best for his neighborhood school friends.

  When David came back with everything from the broken down Mini-Mart across the street, he saw dad looking nervously at a big safe; its dad's beloved hunting equipment.

  Dad turns around with an even more nervous look.

  “Remember all those missions you completed on that Call of Duty game I bought you? Well, do you feel comfortable holding a pistol?”

  Chapter 3

  Moving on from Oregon

  “Son, how old are you now?”

  David holds up nine fingers acting like a little kid.

  “Well, I believe it's time for you to know a little about Bob Marley and the magical plant. As you may have known, if you weren't so busy playing on your PSP when I'm watching the news, just north from us is a state that recently legalized this mystical herb that will get you started in thinking of all kinds of things. But don't worry, I'll be beside you the first couple times you use it. Here, first have a cigarette, I want you to enjoy the peaks of life I had to wait till 16 to experience.”

  David took the cigarette from his dad excitingly and had him help light it.

  “Wow, I feel really mellow and a little dizzy. Is that supposed to happen?'

  “Welcome to the high life. Take your time with that cigarette. Don't hold it in too long. Take as deep a breath as you like, but exhale as soon as you're done breathing in. For now, you get an allowance of 2 cigarettes a day. The string is that you must obey my instructions and advice. And my first advice to you is, don't hold in the smoke.”

  “Okay, thanks for the cigarette. I've always wondered what all these adults were up to.”

  David's dad, Russell, finished packing the last of the hunting gear. David seemed to be enjoying himself despite all the chaos vibing though the air.

  After David finished his cigarette, Russell invited him to the basement to pray for mom's soul to find heaven one day. There was only one of mom's favorite scented candle left. Russell lit it and placed it in front of one of mom's portraits.

  David and Russell each said their prayers. Russell took a little longer than David; for dad wasn't just praying for the health and wellness of her spirit, he was praying for forgiveness for letting his son smoke at such a young age.

  “Time to get in the Jeep son, mom will be looking over us now.”

  As they pulled out of the house, David noticed something that made him quickly say stop.

  “Look there; it looks like someone marked a red X on the lower right hand corner of the map with some dialog written.”

  It reads: “I hope you find this map in time, I had to leave due to the circumstances. I'm sorry I couldn't meet you here, I had to assist a close friend's medical injury and didn't have the supplies here. I heard rumors that there is a safe house located near the vicinity of the X I marked on the map. Grab the 4 short distance 10 mile radios I've placed in the safe below the cash register. The key is under my office desk phone, and the combo is 10 17 9. I'll be on channel 23. Best of wishes. Uncle Mark.”

  “Where did you get this map David?”

  “You said to grab one of each map; I found a unique map on the wall posted behind the cashier. I didn't flash my light on the bottom corner, so I didn't see the note till now. What should we do dad, do you think those people are still coming for their uncle's map?”

  “I don't know. How long do you think we should wait?”

  “I say we should live at the Mini-Mart for a day eating junk food and smoking cigarettes. Anyhow, we might need to get to know these people in order to get into the safe house.”

  “Son, all I heard was that you wanted to smoke cigarettes all day. Now you know what your mom said about smoking cigarettes. But you made a very great point. We should give these nephews a one day grace period before we leave with the original map. Last one there is a rotten egg!”

  Chapter 4

  The Wait

  “Okay son. It looks like you ha
ndled your first cigarette pretty well. I'm going to tell you a couple little facts and make you a deal. I need to tell you that not all the people that are going to pass by into this Mini-Mart are going to be good people. Some can be very desperate and less rational than you might think. We must take turns sleeping with a constant lookout. Now tell me, how long do you think you can stay up from now?”

  “Well, with all this soda and candy, I can stay up as long as you want; but be warned, there might not be any: Red Bull, chocolate, Pepsi, or Cheetos left.”

  “That's the spirit. Once you get tired and there seems to be no activity going on outside, I want you to remember not to wake me up at this moment. I'm going to make a box, and when you feel you're too tired to stay awake, I want you to open the box quietly and read a little note I'm going to put in it. It's going to have a top secret instruction that you can only carry out when you're tired. Understood?”

  “Yes dad.”

  Russell continued to browse the Mart for a good place to go sleep. He didn't want to return to the house because everything reminded him of his wife. He eventually fell asleep.

  David's curiosity of that mystery box led him to open it 8 minutes after Russell started snoring. In it was a pack of cigarettes with a note saying: “Son, cigarettes are stimulants, it'll help you stay up longer past your bedtime. I'm sure you know how to light these smokes in the middle of this Mart. You are allowed to smoke as much as you want. There are 20 cigarettes in this pack. I believe it's the only pack in the Mart that you can get your hands on. I locked the rest in the safe. You're probably too tired to recall the combo, but don't even try; I hid the key. Make it last son, and promise me that you don't smoke more than 1 cigarette every 30 minutes. Be warned, you'll get sick if you smoke more than I advise.”

  David talks to himself, “Alright! A whole pack of cigarettes. I thought it was going to be a blow horn or something. Well, first things first, time for a Red Bull.”

  David spent the night consuming all kinds of junk food he used to have to beg his parents to buy. He only ate his fill though; David hated the feeling of being full more than the pleasure of that extra M&M.

  David tried to be cautious with the thought of smoking. He didn't want to wake up his dad with the smell and be back on the allowance. So he grabbed a flashlight and lighter and headed out to the dark freezing outside. Lighting a cigarette for the first time thrilled him. He starts to feel the effects: a sudden mellowness that engulfs you, a light headed dizziness, and an amp of energy.

  Nothing happened for the first 3 hours of smoking 6 cigarettes. But on the 7th one, David noticed a light far off in the distance. David thought it was a car, maybe the nephews. Quickly thinking on his feet, he took 2 cigarettes out of the pack and hid them behind some pork chip bags; at the same time, yelling for his dad to wake up. Surprisingly to him, Russell rushed out of bed in less than a few seconds appearing fully awake.

  “What is it son.”

  “I see a light far down the road, could that be them?”

  “I want you to go back to the house and stand behind a window. Be sure to leave your flashlight off once you secure your location. Your mission is to stake out and observe what's going on. If you see me do this or that hand signal. React with haste. Remember son, right now it's only us, me and you. A lot of people are fighting for themselves right now because there are not enough resources to go around. If they pose a threat, we must eliminate them. Remember the evasive tactics you've learned in Call of Duty, you may need to use all that training tonight if we are going to live past today.”

  “Yes dad”

  Ready at checkpoint, he watched his dad smoke a cigarette in front of the Mart as the vehicle’s light approached. The more the vehicle came to sound, the more it sounded like a helicopter.

  Russell came to realize this. When he did, he ran back into the Mart to try to find something that will catch the helicopter's attention. David thought he know what his dad was up to and soon remembered that dad left his keys in the car when they ran out to the Mart.

  David started the car and played with the buttons in effort to flash the lights. Dad came out of the Mart with a hand full of fireworks and ordered David to help him light them all.

  Unfortunately, as the helicopter approached David's vision, the interior of the helicopter glowed enough for David to see that there’s not enough space to board. David, with a loss of hope, glanced at his dad’s working conviction and shouted, “Hey dad! That helicopter could be using short-wave radios. They could be on channel 23!”

  “Nice thinking son.”

  As dad approached the safe, he was in such a panic that he couldn't recall the code. The thought of running back to the office bedroom to find that map under his sheets seemed a waste of time at the moment. He thought if he could calm down, he'd remember the code. The key was in his pocket, his mindset confident. He tried the first combo that came to mind: 10, 18, 9. Fail. He quickly realized that the 18 was 17 and opened the safe. Packs of cigarettes are flying everywhere behind him as he nearly reaches the bottom of the pile where the radios are.

  David's outside still lighting fireworks hoping plan A would work. The helicopter started slowing down as it approached the disarrayed firework scene.

  Russell sprinted out the Mart and yelled “Run!”

  David turned off his flashlight and ran towards the little red glowing light on Russell’s radio. He tripped a few times, but managed to keep balance.

  “That's not a search and rescue helicopter like we thought. It's a N. Korean military search and destroy helicopter flying around killing Americans.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “We are not the only ones on channel 23 around here. The owner of this Mart poses to be a high official in our government. I saw some pictures of him in the safe. They are broadcasting a cycled message warning everyone in the area of that helicopter. A few members of this radio channel have been killed already.”

  “I'm sorry to say, but we should just go in the Mart and smoke our last cigarette. It's said that they have heat vision, so running is a waste of breath.”

  Russell lit a cigarette for his son and went back to the office to take another look that map. He began to think that these N. Koreans could just be looking for the location of this X-mark. So he took his time to remember it, and then started burning it from the corner where the X and message dialog had been written.

  Minutes later, what appeared to be a SWAT team of N. Koreans surrounded the parking lot. In a very thick accent, one said, “You are surrounded and outnumbered; stay where you are.”

  David is in fear holding onto a long cigarette drag hoping to become mellow and calm once again.

  Dad, gathering his senses, tried to remain calm. He asked and stated, “What business do you have here? If it's the map you seek, I've burnt it.”

  Standing their ground, it was apparent these guys were following orders over a speakerphone. Funnier is that the person on the other line seemed to sound like an interpreter.

  “Where's the map?!” demanded the speakerphone.

  “I told you already, I've burnt it.”

  Chapter 5

  The Arrest

  The situation was tight. There were six armed men and a pilot. Russell had an interesting idea, “Is it the safe house you seek?”

  The voice on the speakerphone responded; this time, with less accent and a more serious tone.

  “If you have any information, it's of your best interest to tell us now.”

  “I have all the information about it, in fact it's stashed in a nice 2 cm paper pile not too far away from here. Say, how is it my best interest to give you this information?”

  “You Americans are funny. Always thinking you can negotiate some kind of favor when you're working with nothing.”

  Light gun fire noises started echoing in from outside the Mini-Mart. All six gunmen raced back to the helicopter quickly getting into formation; three facing the north side of the road, and three to th
e south.

  As David is peeking out the office door and through the Mini-Mart's shattered window to scope the situation out, the notion seemed like Uncle Mark's nephews came after all; well-armed too. Dad concludes that Uncle Mark's nephews probably arrived in a crew of four with: two snipers, one machine gunner, and a silent shotgun holding down the fort. All based on the four given radios.

  The two north positioned gunman get poned head-shots seconds apart from shots fired at least a mile away. The south positioned men looked at each other nervously as they repositioned into a north evasive front. It's guerrilla warfare, and without the proper sniping scopes, morale for these Koreans to advance in their mission grew dimmer as it became clear their new rival had no intention of bringing the battle into a closer combat zone. Finally, the blissfully cocky pilot got off his ass, tossed the mini video poker game machine aside, and started the main engine.

  “Not a bad tactical plan of action for a group of nearby fellas; having spotted a N. Korean helicopter over a mile away, and successfully luring the assault team out with such distanced machine gun rounds. They took the gold with those two cold snipes.” Said dad, distracted end-sentence, as he turns to his son's blissful attention to gunfire.