Ch-2

Night of the living Dead

Aaron stood in the middle of the dusty road eyes fixed on the other man standing fifteen yards away. It was the old west again and Aaron had been called out into a duel. Aaron wore tan buckskin pants,a white shirt,black chaps,a black leather duster with a black cowboy hat and on his chest was a gold star showing that he was the sheriff of this two bit town.

"you killed my brother sheriff," "And I'm here to pay you back for his unjustified murder."

"Unjustified!" Aaron shouted back. "He killed two men in cold blood then tried to kill me." "How is that unjustified?"

"You should have stayed out of it and just walked away sheriff" "My names Jack Reilly." "My brother was James Reilly." "I'm here seeking revenge for his murder."

"Well that's nice to know" Aaron replied "I'll be sure to remind them to bury you next to his sorry ass after your dead Mr Reilly." At this Jack went for his gun, but it never left the holster. Before Jack's hand could grip his sidearm a slug from Aaron s peacekeeper slammed into Jacks left eye killing instantly. Jack's body stood in place for a few seconds as if not sure of what had just happened. After a moment his legs gave out letting him fall to the ground.

"Good shot sheriff!"a man standing nearby yelled. "Ya you sure showed him who's boss" yelled another person.

"Thank you everyone but it's part of the job" Aaron replied. "What was that sheriff?" "We can't hear you speak up"

"I said thank you but" "We still can't hear you." "speak up." I said!" Aaron began to yell but was cut off by a loud rumbling sound. It was then Aaron heard the sound of a motorcycle and it had snapped him back to reality. He was no longer the sheriff in a small town being praised as a hero but a police officer sitting in his cruiser on the side of a dark highway that had passed out again.

Then a motorcycle with two passengers riding it flew by so fast that he couldn't even get a speed reading from them. Aaron put the cruiser in drive and punched the throttle, the rooster tale made by the cruiser followed by the white cloud of smoke as the tires hit the street again gave Aaron the wake up he needed.

"Finely some real action" he said as he reached for the radio. "This is Adam-5 over."

After a few seconds he herd the radio click on,"Go ahead Adam-5" came the dispatcher on the other end. "Yes Iv got a motorcycle traveling northeast on outer highway ten." "Speed is over seventy miles an hour." "Two passengers can be seen on the bike over."

"Copy that Adam-5 you have a go for traffic stop." said the dispatcher.

"Copy that dispatch Adam-5 out." Aaron finished. He put the mic back on it's holder and pressed the switch for the lights and siren.

"Just great" Phillip complained "I told you we were going to fast." Bryan looked back to see a police cruiser coming up behind them. "I'd like to see them keep up." Bryan said as he gave the bike more throttle. Aaron could see that the riders had no intention of stopping and that they had even picked up speed. Aaron picked up the mic again.

"This is Adam-5 suspects failed to stop and have picked up speed over." "I say again suspects have failed to stop and are attempting to evade over."

"Copy that Adam-5 whats your 20?"

"Current heading is north by northeast on outer highway ten over." Aaron said "At current speed we will be hitting the city limits in five minutes over." Aaron finished

"Adam-5 we are rerouting two motorcycle units to your location to take up pursuit over." came the dispatcher.

"Copy that dispatch I'll continue to follow until they arrive over."

"Copy Adam-5 units E.T.A three minutes can you keep up till then?"

"No problem dispatch Adam-5 out."

Aaron gave the cruiser full throttle and continued to chase the motorcycle. He was almost behind the motorcycle when he noticed a single headlight coming up behind him. "That was fast" he said to himself.

"Great" Phillip complained again "Now we've got another cop on our ass and he got a bike too." Bryan looked back to see if the other bike could still keep up with the chase but was shocked when he noticed that the other biker had a shotgun aimed at the police cruiser.

"That's not a cop" Bryan said "That's a mercenary" "Who did you piss off this time?"

Aaron moved to the side so the motorcycle cop could pass him. As the biker passed by, Aaron picked up his radio to let the dispatcher know that a motorcycle unit had joined the pursuit when he noticed that the rider was aiming a shotgun at him. "What the hell!" Aaron yelled as he ducked under the shotgun blast that blew a basketball size hole threw his windshield.

The cruiser skidded off the highway and down a slope into a field. Aaron sat up and grabbed for the radio mic that had fallen to the floor and in a shaking voice called for backup.

"Come in dispatch this is Adam-5 I have shots fired I repeat shots fired over."

"Copy Adam-5 whats your status?" came the dispatcher.

"An unknown rider joined the pursuit and opened fire on me as he passed by." "The rider was unidentifiable over." "I'm rejoining the pursuit" he finished.

He put the mic back on it's holder and punched the throttle and a few seconds later he was back in pursuit. Aaron could hear the dispatcher on the radio "calling all units we have shots fired on east outer highway ten an officer is under fire any units in the area pleas respond over."

"Copy that dispatch we're in pursuit of two motorcycle's heading north by northeast getting ready to cross the old toll bridge over."

"Under stood we'll have units set up a road block at the far end of the bridge." Copy dispatch we'll meet them there."

Aaron knew were the bridge was and knew a faster way to get there. He turned right onto a dirt road and made his way to the toll bridge in hopes of beating them there.

"Good god!"Phillip yelled "He just greased that cop!" Bryan looked back to see the rider coming up behind them. He also saw two more bikes behind the first but there bikes had flashing lights and sirens.

"Well at least we've got some backup."Bryan pointed behind them. The biker opened fire hitting the Norton as well as Phillips leg. "Aw crap I'm hit!" Phillip yelled. "Bastard shot me" Phillip yelled again.

"Your not the only one he hit" Bryan said. Phillip looked as the side of Bryan's jacket began to leak blood. "He got the bike too" Bryan said wile trying to catch his breath. The Norton popped and shuddered as smoke began to bellow out from the motor.

"Dispatch we have shots fired" reported the motorcycle officer. "The second suspect does not appear to be an accomplices and is shooting at the first motorcycle over."

"Copy that unit-17 you have a go for use of force." "I repeat you have a go for use of force over"

"Copy that dispatch taking him down."

The officer unbuttoned his sidearm and took aim only to see that the biker had a lead on him first. The biker fired hitting the officer in the chest and neck thus throwing him from his motorcycle.

"Dispatch 17 is down!" "I repeat we have an officer down on highway ten and the toll bridge!"

The officer looked on in shock as the biker took aim at him as well. Time seemed to slow down as both men caught sight of a police cruiser smashing threw a wooden fence. The biker never had time to readjust his aim before the cruiser slammed him into a guardrail. Both biker and bike rolled down the highway the bike being torn to pieces as it tumbled. The motorcycle cop road up next to the cruiser and gave Aaron a thumbs up. Aaron was about to return the gesture when the officers bike exploded into a cloud of fire and shrapnel.

"All this for one dam speeding ticket?" Phillip joked. Bryan looked back and gave a small smirk but Phillip could tell that he was in bad shape. The Norton finally gave out as well letting out a loud bang as the engine overheated and died. Bryan had no choice but to lay the bike down sending them skidding across the highway into a guardrail.

Aaron had just missed the crashing bike and had skidded to a stop just past the toll bridge barricade in the center lane. He had shrapnel from the police bike stuck in his left arm and his face had a minor burns from the heat but other then that he was fine.

Aaron looked to see were the motorcycle cop had been. All that was left was a creator the size of a two bedroom house and parts of a bike scattered all over the place. Aaron stood there for a moment trying to figure out what could cause that much damage. He got his answer when a cannon fired off in the distance. Aaron looked around to see were the two riders from the other bike had gone but he could only see the Norton laying on it's side next to the guardrail.

"Aw man they went over the side" he said to himself. He jogged over to the guardrail and looked down but all he could see was pitch black. He was about to walk back to his cruiser to report what happened when he herd a clicking sound from behind him.

"Hands up cop" Phillip ordered and Aaron did as he was told.

"Turn around slowly and keep your hands were I can see them." Again he did as he was told. Aaron looked up to see the two passengers from the motorcycle standing next to his cruiser and one was being held up by the other.

"Nothing personal officer but we're taking your car." "You don't mined do you?" mumbled Bryan who was still having a hard time breathing.

"You won't get very far"Aaron said. "There's a road block at the other end of this bridge"

"That cannon that hit that other cop came from an airship" Phillip began. "That second shot you heard was that same ship taking out your road block."

"I take it that is your ship firing on us?" Aaron asked. He began to put his hands down but quickly put them up again when Phillip pointed the at him. "I said hands up" Phillip ordered again. "And to answer your question no that's not my ship."

"Then who's is it?" Aaron asked getting angry. "And why are they only shooting at the police and not you two?"

"Well it's probably because I have something they want back." Phillip held up the folder and showed the cop the big red letters that read top secret on the front.

"I didn't get to finish reading the rest before we had to leave, but I don't think they want me to have this information." Aaron looked at them for a moment before deciding not to go for his gun. Even if he could draw his sidearm the man with the .357 already had him in his sights, and by the looks of him he could use that hand cannon very well. Bryan moved over to the cruiser and opened the back door. Phillip also moved towards the cruiser and reached for the driver side door handle. "Look man your friends going to bleed out before you can get him any help." "Let me at least help him out." Aaron said. "I don't think so" Phillip replied. "Iv been alive long enough to know better then to trust a guy like you." "I'm also still alive because I don't trust anybody." Phillip finished.

"Well if you don't trust anybody then why are you helping him then?" Aaron added." "As far as I can tell he's just dead weight to you now." Aaron finished.

"He and I go way back and he helped me out earlier so I owe him one so to speak." "Now if you don't mined we have a plane to catch."

Phillip turned to open the door when something slammed into his back knocking the wind out of him. He fell to his knees trying to catch his breath but couldn't get one. "Should have just shot the dam cop" he thought to himself. Looking over to were the cop was he could see that the officers sidearm was still in it's holster. If not the cop then who? He wondered looking more to his left. Bryan perhaps? Looking into the back seat he could see that Bryan had passed out from blood loss. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the officer pulling his sidearm. Phillip got a small breath of air before turning back to the cop. He could tell that the officer had his eyes on a bigger problem other then his car being stolen. Phillip looked at cop and then to what the cop was looking at. He was shocked by the sight of a morph unit walking towards them. "Drop your weapon and get down on the ground." Aaron ordered. But the biker that he was sure was dead still kept on coming. The morph looked at the cop to assess the threat level of the officers gun and concluded that the threat level was only a light 15% and unless the officer fired would not be considered a target. Looking back to it's target the morph began to run at Phillip who was by now trying to climbing into the police cruiser. "I said drop it!" Aaron yelled again. He had never seen a morph unit before. He had only heard that they were built primarily for combat by the military. Once the great war was over they were taken offline and out of active duty. Some of his fellow officers had said that most of them were destroyed but some had disappeared during the shipment back to the factory.

Phillip had sat down in the driver seat of the cruiser gasping for breath. He had been hit below his vest and was starting to hyperventilate from trying to breath. His gun had slipped from his hand and had fallen to the ground. He could see the morph running at them but was to injured to do much about it. Putting the cruiser in drive he let the car coast to get a better distance from the cop and more importantly the morph.

Aaron had no idea what to do. He heard that these things were built to take a beating but how much of one was the question. So he aimed for it's legs and fired. The first shot hit the morphs shin on it's right leg just below the knee. The second hit the same leg but lower hitting the top of it's foot. The morph stumbled and fell in mid run and Aaron quickly took the advantage to put too more rounds in the back of it's head.

Satisfied that this old war tech was not a danger anymore, Aaron walked over to the cruiser that had been stopped on a pile of rubble only a few feet from were he had stopped it before.

"Well it looks like you guys owe me one now doesn't it."

"How about we take a trip to the station to get you too patched up," " And then you can explain just what the hell is going on here." Aaron laughed wile he said this to the gun carrying carjacker.

"Don't look now officer." Phillip said in a horse voice, "Looks like you made a new friend." Aaron turned around, and came face to face with the morph unit but before he could move it had grabbed him by his coat and tossed him over it's shoulder and into the guard house for the bridge controls. "Dammit" he grumbled as he got back to his feet.

Standing up now, the door to the guard house was kicked in as the morph came in after him. Aaron went for his gun but realized that it was gone. So instead he used his baton to fight with. Aaron had hit the morph three times in the head before being tossed back out the same hole that he had entered. He hit the ground rolling and came to a stop next to the cruiser. A little dizzy from hitting the ground he looked up to see that his attacker was already after him again. Aaron was still trying to get to his feet when the morph reached him. He didn't see what hit him but he was sure that he had left the ground again. His face hurt now and he could feel blood coming from his nose and mouth. Looking around he could see that he had landed on the other side of the cruiser and that the morph was now after the two occupants in the cruiser again.

Phillip had hoped that the cop would do a better job at keeping the morph occupied long enough for them to get away. Seeing it come after them again he put the cruiser in revers and slammed the throttle. The tires screamed loudly as white smoke lifted from the concrete and the cruiser took off backwards just missing Aaron. The morph however was hit by the driver door and pulled under the car as it sped passed. The cruiser hit a road block and was stopped. Phillip to was weak from blood loss and could no longer feel his feet and as a result could not feel the peddles to the car. He could see the morph unit laying in the street almost crushed, but he knew better then to think it was safe.

Aaron had picked up the 357. that had been dropped by the carjacker. Opening the chamber he could see that it had been fired once already. Taking out the spent cartridge he closed the chamber again. Looking at the morph he kept his distance this time not sure if it was playing dead or not. Aaron walked up to the cruiser and could see that Phillip had passed out. He began to check him for any other weapons and only found more ammo for the 357. and the folder from before. Aaron picked up the mic to the radio to call for backup when out of the corner of his eye he could see the morph sitting up and started looking around.

"Oh shit" he mumbled and shoved Phillip into the passenger seat of the cruiser. Aaron put the car in drive and hit the throttle just as the morph stood to face him. The morph jumped on the hood just as the car hit him intent on grabbing the driver but instead was met by a 357. magnum slug to the face. He rolled off the front of the car and was again run over.

Aaron raced for the other side of the bridge were the roadblock was set up in hopes that he could get help.

The bridge it self was a mile long and fore lanes across. There were old cars, boulders, tanks and other left over junk from the great war scattered all over the place. Most of the homeless from the city lived here because not many people come this far into the hills. Aaron had come here in his younger days with his friends just to get away from home every now and again.

As time passed the bridge had been shut down because of the war. The mane support beams had cracked during a fight on the bridge itself and nether side was willing to make repairs or lose troops over it. So the city counsel decided to leave it as a ruin and not wast tax payers money on it after the war.

As Aaron began to exit the tunnel he could hear weapons fire as well as cannons fire from the other side of the bridge. He switched off the lights to the car a crept forward not sure if it was safe or not. They made there way out of the mouth of the tunnel and Phillip spoke in a low horse voice.

"Its the Black Ops unit that's making all the noise out there." Aaron looked over to the carjacker who even in the dim moon light was pale from blood loss. Phillip leaned back in the seat as best he could and lifted a shaking hand pointing into the darkness.

"Watch,"he said "Look past the hill on the left side" Aaron looked not sure of what to see. After a few moments he could see cannon fire and then herd a explosion.

"What are they shooting at?" Aaron asked not really wanting to know. "And how are you involved in this?"

Not sure if he should answer the cops question Phillip took out the folder and held it out to the cop. "It's a long story and I don't have a lot of time to tell it." Aaron looked at the folder and the he remembered that he had two gunshot wounds to fix.

"Save it for later we need to get you guys a doctor." And with that he began to drive at a normal speed back to the city.

As they reached the end of the toll bridge Aaron was in aw at the sight of the devastation. There were police cruisers all over the place. Some were burning others were blown to pieces and all of them were riddled with bullet holes. Aaron picked up the mic "This is Adam-5 over" "I repeat this is Adam-5 anybody out there over." After a few minutes of static the radio clicked on. Copy Adam-5 whats your 20 over. The voice on the radio was a different person. Aaron could tell something was wrong. The dispatcher from before was female and this new voice was male. He decided to play along and see how it played out. Adam-5 you copy that last transmission over?

"Copy dispatch my heading is northeast on the toll bridge coming back into the city over." He quickly turned the cruiser around and turned off the highway just before the bridge.

"What are you doing?" Phillip asked "Are we going back or not?"

"Nope were being setup and I need to know by who." "Dispatch come in over."

This is dispatch go ahead.

"This is Adam-5 my unit is breaking down a mile from the toll bridge I'm going to need a pickup over."

Copy Adam-5 were sending someone to you E.T.A. Twenty minutes just sit tight over.

"Copy that Adam-5 out." Aaron threw the mic down and began to pound on the steering wheel.

"Those pricks killed everybody at the station along with the rest of the police force!"

Aaron opened the door and got out of the car.

"Were are you going?" Phillip asked.

"I'll be right back just sit tight" And he jogged off into the darkness. A few minutes later he returned with a first aid kit and a smile on his face.

"What so funny?" Phillip asked

"I set a trap for those goons and it's a big one." Aaron pointed to some flashing lights on the highway about two hundred yards down the road. Phillip could tell it was a police car but had no idea what this cop had done to it.

"That's your big plan?" Phillip asked "You going to make them drive out to find an empty car so they look stupid?"

Aaron opened the back door and pulled Bryan out of the backseat. Lying him on the ground he opened Bryan's jacket and started to treat his wounds.

"No I'm going to make them drive out here to find an empty car with a breach charge stuck to the fuel tank."

After fifteen minutes give or take Aaron had dressed Bryan's wounds and had started working on Phillip when he herd engines coming up the highway.

"That sounds a lot bigger then a truck." Phillip said.

"Hell ya it does and it's not on the highway ether." Aaron stood up to see what it could be and then quickly hid behind the car door. "Good god!" Aaron yelled "They sent an air ship of all things to take me out."

"This mite not be a bad thing." Phillip said "If you can get the name of that is."

Aaron looked over the door to get a look at the ships name but had a hard time seeing it until the cannon fired and the car on the highway turned into a creator. Aaron sat back down his face pale.

"So, did you see it?" Aaron looked back at a little shaky.

"Ya I saw it." "It said BRAHNE on the side of the hull." Aaron helped the carjacker back into his seat.

"Head south I know a place were we can hide for a wile." Phillip said "We can't stay around here anymore." Aaron didn't say anything he just follow directions to the carjackers hideout.

"Good idea with the car by the way." Phillip commented "To bad you didn't get anyone with it."

An hour later they arrived at a small house in the middle of nowhere. Hiding the cruiser around the back Aaron helped Bryan into the small house and went back out to help Phillip.

"After we rest, we need to talk."

"Your the cop ask away" Phillip said.