Part 36 (1/2)
”Nyet!”
Georgi Striganov said.”No,” Cecil said.
”No,” West said.
Thermopolis shook his head. ”No.”
The commanders of Seven and Eight Battalions shook their heads.
Buddy and Tina appeared in the doorway of the CP. Both of them wore odd expressions on their faces.
”What's the matter with you two?” Ben asked.
”It appears that we all misunderstood what the creepie meant by surrender” Buddy said.
”What are you talking about?” Ike asked.
”There are no more of them,” Tina said. ”At least not in this city. He's the last one left.”
Chapter Ten.
”What the h.e.l.l am I going to do with you?” Ben asked the Believer.
”What difference does it make?” the ragged man asked. ”'The mighty General Ben Raines and his army of Rebels have won-at least here in the remnants of America. Europe, my good general, will be quite another matter, I a.s.sure you.”
”I don't suppose you'd like to tell me what you know about it?”
”Ah ... no.”
”Why did you surrender?”
”To receive proper medical treatment. I am sick.”
”Yes. We know. You're probably dying.”
”I suspected as much. I contracted the disease while visiting friends down in San Diego.”
”San Diego no longer exists.”
”I know. You're a vicious man, General.” He reached around and scratched his b.u.t.t for the umpteenth time, and Ben's eyes followed the movement.
Lamar grunted his astonishment at that remark and Ben laughed at the man.
'allyou call me vicious?”
”We were exercising our right to practice our religion. What gives you the right to wage war against us?”
”I don't think our Founding Fathers had cannibalism in mind when they wrote the First Amendment.”
”No matter. Are you going to kill me, General Raines?”
”I don't know what I'm going to do with you.”
He reached around to scratch his b.u.t.t. With a smile on his face he said, ”Good-bye General Raines.”
The booming of Ben's .45 was very loud in the closed room. The slug took the creep in the center of his forehead and when it exited, made a big mess on the wall behind where the creep had been sitting.
”What the h.e.l.l, Ben!” Lamar shouted.
”Ten bucks says he had a grenade wedged in the crack of his a.s.s,” Ben said, easing the hammer back down on his .45.Ike and Dan turned the creep over and jerked up his ragged robes. ”How did you know?” Dan asked softly.
”He scratched his b.u.t.t one time too many.”
”I can't believe it's over here,” Linda said.
”It just doesn't seem possible.”
”He may or may not have been the last creepie,”
Ben replied. ”I think he was sent here on a suicide mission. But I also believe there are d.a.m.n few of them left.”
”General,” Corrie said, walking up behind him.
”Five and Six Battalions report everything is clean all the way up to the Canadian border.
Their recon people have found where large numbers of men have bivouacked. They followed their trail straight to the border. They want to know if you want them to cross over and engage.”
”Tell them to stand down and go on back to Base Camp One. They've earned the break. They've been on the road for two months.” He paused.
”What month is it, anyway?”
”November,” Jersey said. ”It's almost Thanksgiving, I think.”
”One week from today,” Beth, the unofficial record-keeper said.
”Thank you, Beth,” Ben said. ”We'll pull out six days from today. We'll have Thanksgiving dinner on the road. For the next six days we'll break up into platoon-sized units and sweep the city.
It looks dead, it feels dead, but let's make sure. I don't want any more surprises sprung on me.”
The Rebels fanned out all over the smoking and rubbled ruins of the City of the Angels. If any building they came to was still intact, they either blew it or burned it. When the Rebels left the city this time, there would be precious little left. They found very small pockets of creepies, and the creepies had anything but surrender on their minds.
It wouldn't have done them any good if they had chosen to surrender.
Ben and his team, accompanied by a platoon of Rebels, roamed the city, inspecting what used to be called-by the tourist board compoints of interest. The tall buildings of downtown Los Angeles still stood, but they were shattered and torn from artillery and mortar rounds, huge gaping holes knocked in them from 105 and 155 artillery rounds.