BUaDS – Chapter 26 – A Visit from the Proud Americans Brigade
Rosa Jardine frantically felt the space in front of her in the dark tunnel, stepping hurriedly over the jagged, loose rocks on the floor. She felt the rocky walls around her, and jumped back in the pitch black when she bumped up against a wall in front of her. She stopped, took a deep breath, and stepped sideways, feeling around the sharp bend in the tunnel where she had knocked herself out when she came through the first time. Carefully sliding around the bend, she continue moving forward. She soon saw the dim light coming from the obscured entrance to the tunnel, and relaxed as she quickly moved towards it. She could hear Theo following behind her, and she yelled back to him, “Honey! Watch- I mean – feel for the bend in the middle or you’ll run into it again!”
Theo shouted back, “I remember! I’ve got Arfie by the collar. We’re not far behind!”
“I’m right behind you, Theo!” Kenji Nobu called out, “Let me know when you’re past the bend so I don’t bump into you!”
Rosa pulled aside the branches of the bush concealing the tunnel entrance, letting the blinding bright light of the mid-day sun pour into the tunnel. She squinted at the sudden brightness, and shielded her eyes as she stepped out of the tunnel. Once her eyes adjusted to the daylight, she gasped and jumped back into the tunnel, letting the bush snap back over it. She looked back to see Theo and Arfie emerge from the pitch black. Theo smiled and was about to speak to his mother, but Rosa shushed her son and gave him a stern look. She reached over to grab Arfie’s collar, and pulled the grey and white Husky next to her, it’s bright blue eyes gazing at her curiously.
Kenji called out from the darkness beyond them, “Can I come through now?”
“Yes!” Rosa whispered loudly, “Please be quiet! The PABs we ran into earlier today are back!”
Kenji clattered across the rocky floor in his square wooden sandals, and emerged from the darkness, squeezing passed everyone to peer throught the bush over the entrance. “Damn! And they’ve brought more of their friends… Goddammit! They’re in my house!”
Before Rosa could say anything, he was out of the tunnel and clambering down the side of the hill and running across the desert towards his house. His brown robe was flapping as he ran, and Rosa could see a flash of metal from his sword, now unsheathed and waving above his head. He was screaming at the top of his lungs as he sprinted towards the black vehicles parked in front of the corrugated metal shack that he lived in.
Rosa held back Theo and Arfie, both straining to jump out of the tunnel and chase after Kenji. “No, it’s too dangerous!” she hissed, looking wide-eyed at the flag hoisted over the large pickup truck, the fabric flapping in the breeze and clearly showing its large white star on blue and red stripes.
The young men skulking around Kenji’s house turned to look at the small old man with white hair, shouting and running across the desert towards them. They pulled together into a group and sauntered to meet Kenji at the gate where the silver Datsun 280Z was parked. They walked in front of the car, standing between it and Kenji, fast approaching them. The leader stepped forward to meet the old man, his shotgun resting on his shoulder. The young man’s severe eyes narrowed, and he pulled his PAB cap down slightly, the rim of the cap concealing them.
“Calm down, you crazy old coot! We’re not looking fer you!” the young man barked.
Kenji still bore down on them, waving his sword wildly in front of him. With a shrill scream, Kenji lunged at the young man, thrusting his sword in front of him. The young man clenched his jaw, and fended off Kenji’s sword with the barrel of his shotgun. With a loud clang and clatter, the sword was knocked out of Kenji’s hand and fell to the sand. The other young men around the leader quickly tackled the old man, and held him down on the ground.
“That was dumb,” the leader scowled at Kenji, still squirming and screaming under the weight of the other young men holding him down. “Like I said, if you’d listen old man, we’re not interested in you. We jis’ wanna talk t’ the girl who owns this silver car,” he said and gestured at the Datsun behind him.
Kenji stopped screaming, and glared up from the sandy desert floor. “She’s not the young woman you’re looking for! I’ve heard the broadcasts and I know that she isn’t the one described. Get off me, you smelly bastards!”
The young men holding him down laughed and let go of him, after the leader nodded with a smirk on his face. “If anyone’s a stinkin’ freak, it’s you,” he sneered and picked up the sword he knocked away from Kenji. “Swords are for weirdos. Wow.” He tossed it into the back of his pickup truck and turned to Kenji, who was sweating and covered in dust. “Where’s the girl? I wanna talk to her, see what she knows.”
“She’s gone. The young woman you’re looking for was taken away by helicopter in the middle of the night. The information in the broadcasts is inaccurate and out of date… as usual,” Kenji answered, his heavy breathing steadying as he talked. He pulled out the radio that was still tucked into his shirt, and tuned it to a station playing the President’s message:
“… one the traitor leaders is captured and cooperating with the authorities to identify her co-conspirators. Their base of operations is destroyed. Continue to be vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour to your local police. The Proud Americans Brigade is making our country safer and stronger through your diligence and unwavering allegiance.”
Kenji shrugged at the young men around them and reached out his hand to the leader, asking, “Can I get my sword back, please?”
“Naw, I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure you’re somehow mixed up in all this, and the girl who drove this car, too, wherever she is. C’mon guys, she can’t be too far,” the leader said and hopped into his pickup. The other young men jumped into their vehicles, and together they roared off into the desert, spitting up clouds of dust and exhaust and weaving through the desert bushes and rocks, away from the hills concealing Rosa, Theo, Arfie and the hidden garden.
Kenji went back into his hut, groaning to see that the young men had trashed it, throwing around the few possessions he had. He started putting his house back in order, when he heard someone step on the wooden-skid porch. He whipped around to see Rosa step into the hut, silently helping him to clean up the mess. Theo and Arfie soon poked their heads throught the door of the corrugated metal hut, Theo asking, “Is the coast clear? Are you OK, Kenji?”
“I’ll be fine. It isn’t the first time they’ve nosed around my home,” Kenji said angrily. He reached under the metal sink, feeling behind one of the metal legs hold it up. He pulled out another sword stashed there, and grinned. He put it into the sheath under his robe and turned to Rosa. “My dear, now’s our chance to get to Ojai while those yahoos are driving around the desert looking for you. On the way to Ojai, we’re going to stop in with a good friend of mine who I think can help us, Hanyo Soor.”
*** This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ***