Jeff reached into a pocket on his chest rig and slowly pulled out his National Guard ID. Jeff reached out to hand it over, and the guard went to take it. With a flash of movement, Jeff had the guy’s gun arm twisted behind his back. The guard’s eyes went wide and he grunted with the sudden change of circumstances. One moment he had been in control of the situation and the next moment he was helpless.
“All right, pal. Now we’ve got that out of the way and we’re good buddies, how about you take me to the boss?” Jeff used his free arm to reach around and pull the guard’s firearm out of the holster. Jeff handed it off to one of his wingmen. He kept the guard’s arm cranked behind his back for good measure, but he let up a little on the pressure. They would probably be on the same team with the security guard in a few minutes, so no point in damaging the guy’s ego any more than he must.
The guard led Jeff and his two men inside and through the hospital while Evan and Alec covered the outside of the building. After a couple of turns down the inside corridors, Jeff came around a corner to find a disheveled doctor behind a nurse’s desk in the emergency room, hiding from them. Somehow, the doctor had known they were coming.
“What is going on here?” the doctor shouted, seeing three guys in military clothes manhandling his security guard.
“Good morning, Doc.” Jeff reached out his right hand, a big smile on his face, still pinning the guard’s arm. “We’re here to help.”
“Yeah, then why are you holding my guard like you’re his mean big brother?” the doctor barked.
“Sorry about that. We’re just becoming friends and we still have a couple of things to work out.” Jeff released the arm and pushed the guard toward one of his guys with a flick of his eyes that said cover this guy.
“How’re you going to help us?” the doctor asked, unconvinced.
“Today, maybe tomorrow, this hospital is going to be overrun with druggies. Your mall ninja here isn’t going to be able to stop more than one or two of those fellas coming for free OxyContin. Right?”
“Yeah, we’ve already been robbed twice.” The doctor managed to look even more haggard when he said it. “We don’t have much in the way of drugs here. If that’s what you want, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”
“No, sir, we’re not looking for drugs. We’d like to keep this place from being burned to the ground. We’re Special Forces formerly attached to the 19th Group at Tooele.” Jeff figured it would be a good time to dial back on the fiction, especially if he wanted long-term cooperation. The doctor was an asset he hoped to retain. “Here’s my ID from the Army.”
Jeff reached across the desk and handed the ID to the doctor. “We’re not on orders, but we’re looking to do some good deeds and we figured we’d help protect your hospital.”
“Okay. Then what do you want?” The doctor sat down hard in the nurse’s chair and rubbed his eyes, handing back the ID with his free hand.
“I just want to leave some guys here to help Mr. Security Guard,” Jeff told him. “That’s it. Can everyone get behind that plan?”
“Yeah, I guess we can give that a try. So long as you promise to leave if we ask you to leave.”
Jeff said nothing and the doctor took it as agreement. He stood and shook hands with Jeff. “I’m Doctor Lewis and this is Steve.” He motioned toward the security guard. “You should know we called the police when we saw you out front.”
“Oh, your cell’s working? Did the police answer?” Jeff asked.
“Well, we called a cop we know down the street. We had his cell number. He’s on his way.”
Like clockwork, Jeff’s radio squawked. “Jeff, Evan. Over.”
“Go ahead,” Jeff spoke into the radio hanging from his shoulder strap.
“We’ve got us a boy in blue out here, and we’re pointing guns at each other.”
“Roger. I’m coming out. We made friends inside. It’s all good. Don’t shoot anyone.”
“Copy.”
Jeff motioned for his guys to stay with Steve, and he headed out the ER doors with Doctor Lewis.
The cop hunched behind his car, trying to cover fifteen soldiers at once with his Glock.
“Hold up, boys,” Jeff shouted as he came through the door, placing the doctor between him and the cop.
“Doctor Lewis, you okay?” the cop shouted.
“I’m good, Officer,” Doctor Lewis said. “These men are from the National Guard and they’re here to help us protect the hospital.”
“Is that right? Then why aren’t they driving a Hummer, and why are they pointing their rifles at me?”
“I can explain,” Jeff chimed in. “Officer, we’re not under orders. We came here on our own to help out. We’d like to keep the hospital intact for everyone’s benefit. That make sense to you?”
“Yep,” the cop agreed, “that makes sense if you’re not full of shit. From what I can see, you’re robbing this hospital.”
Jeff laughed. Damn cops. No trust.
“Does it really matter? This isn’t a situation where your skeptical nature is going to buy you anything good. Am I right?”
The cop laughed, stood up straight and holstered his gun.
“You got a point there. So what’s the scam?” He walked over to Jeff, ignoring the rifles pointed at him.
Brave enough guy, Jeff thought.
“Officer Jacobs,” Jeff read the guy’s name tag, “why are you in uniform? Ain’t you heard? The police 401K has gone down the tubes.”
Jacobs laughed. “I’m not on duty. I don’t think anyone’s on duty. I live down the street, and I told Doc Lewis to call me if any more druggies came by. I figure that wearing a uniform makes it slightly less likely that someone will shoot me. You guys apparently operate on the same theory.”
“Yeah, something like that.” Jeff had ordered all his men to wear multi-cam BDUs. They had tons of camo at the Homestead, and it made them seem more official and more lethal. Uniforms, patches, and even helmets, as useless as they might be, added an air of “don’t fuck with me.” That kind of thing, Jeff reasoned, went a long way in the new Wild West.
“Okay, boys, am I supposed to just go on home?” Jacobs asked.
“How about this?” Jeff had an idea. “How about you stay on the job—help us keep this hospital all nice and pretty?”
“And what do I get outta that? My 401K is in rough shape, as you pointed out.”
“How about we feed your family and protect them behind a secure perimeter? How’s that for a deal?”
The cop thought about it for a second. “I’m not sure how you’d do that, but that’s the kind of deal that sells itself.”
Jeff stepped forward and offered his hand. “We got us a deal. This is Josh and he’s going to take a ride with you and show you and your family up to our little piece of heaven on that hill over there. How’s that sound?” Jeff pointed to one of his trainees and then up the hill in the direction of the Homestead.
Jacobs shook Jeff’s hand. “Okay then. Sounds like a deal.”
Jeff turned and walked over to Evan.
“See? I can make friends and influence people. When are you guys going to start believing in me?”
“Not only is it the Apocalypse,” Evan countered, “but we’re seeing bona fide miracles. You’re making people like you instead of just stomping on them. It’s truly the Second Coming of the Lord Almighty. Next thing you know, lions and lambs will be lying down together, making sweet love.”
The rest of the morning, Jeff’s team rolled up another pharmacy and checked out two others. The big chain pharmacies were totally looted out, but they did manage to score a small mom-and-pop pharmacy that was being guarded by a shotgun-toting owner. Jeff turned on the charm and won the old guy over. No shots fired.