Getting Home

Part 53

A deep, rolling growl began to build and reverberate between the giant buildings in front of the mall.

"We have to go, now," Agent Leigh said, more panicked than Sean had ever seen her—she couldn't look away from the massive tank straight ahead of them at the end of the block.

The cops at the command center scattered, frantically yelling orders and location meet-ups back and forth as they hurried to their cars. The sky that had brightened a dim orange was sullied by a few dark, grey clouds that were leftover from the night before, turning the dawn light into an eerie, dim morning grey.

A massive creaking filled the air, groan, so loud and deep it sounded like nothing Sean had ever heard before—it sounded like a building slowly being pulled apart.

The giant Super Tank jerked violently forward—Sean felt the crack in the air. The multiple armaments jostled in the air as the tank began to move. The giant mechanical behemoth was covered in gun and cannon barrels, the sides fitted with multiple remote MK38's, along with dual Phalanx systems on either side of the bridge-turret—all topped with a massive M270 with dual missile bays.

Woah, Sean thought.

The tank began to shoulder its way down the street.

The three tank treads on each side were so massive they overlapped the street and took up the sidewalks on each side—and even into the building fronts. Everything in the way was easily flattened with zero resistance; decorative trees, benches, garbage cans. Poles and signs. The street lights toppled one by one, alternating back and forth in tempo across the street from each other. Cars parked along the street were at first bounced and pushed, shoveled along before becoming stuck under the massive treads and giant front armor plate—and then getting ground up like a wood chipper. All of the window would explode, the entire car crumpling and crackling, crushing down into an explosion of sparks and flame—

The tank didn't even bounce.

"What is that?" Sean asked, still staring it continued forcing its way down the street—windows that were on the lower floors of the skyscrapers violently blew out as the tank scraped along the building fronts.

"That is the potential to become our worst nightmare," Leigh said, urgently tapping on her phone again. Fury whined, jumping in one of the open cruiser doors and anxiously circling on the backseat. All of the police cars began to vacate the area, moving quickly and in unison. The giant Mobile Command center trailer fully sealed up, the diesel truck in front quickly and smoothly pulling it out of the parking lot and down the street—

Away from the giant tank.

Agent Johnson suddenly went to Leigh, whispering something in her ear before pulling his black balaclava back up over the bottom of his face. She nodded, and he went running off...

In the direction of the giant tank.

"Uh... what is he doing?" Sean said.

"Agent Johnson is also allowed to serve as active-duty, as well as full time SWAT and FBI agent," Leigh said. "He's going to see if he can lend a—"

"ATTENTION!" a mechanical voice suddenly boomed, scaring both of them so bad they jumped. The voice sounded odd, automated—warped. Like a computer. The cadence of each word was different, the words slow and clunky, the cadence of the words random, up and down, making the sentence sound alien and strange.

And intimidating.

"ANY AND ALL PERSONS ARE ORDERED TO IMMEDIATELY VACATE THE AREA—YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO COMPLY."

"Get in the car. Now." Leigh said, her phone forgotten.

"But what about the—"

The massive main cannon barrel began to slowly turn as the tank got closer and closer.

"I used to load munitions for these things," Leigh said. "That's the standard automatic warning message before they fire the main gun."

"So?"

"That's a thermonuclear magnetic railcannon," Leigh said loudly. "We need to be far, far away when they fire that thing."

Sean immediately sprinted to the driver's side, hopping in and starting the cruiser. All of the other police vehicles had cleared out, and he could hear the sirens in the distance. He put the car in drive, letting off the brake—

The engine died.

The car completely shut off. Leigh's cellphone, still in her hand, went dark. Sean looked toward the mall, seeing the entire building beginning to crack and crumble.

The solid black wall blob begin to slowly move again, running and sluggishly climbing over itself as it stretched on the wall.

The automated message got closer—which meant the tank was closer.

"Let's follow Johnson," Sean said, opening the cruiser door back up. "We'll go on foot—"

Then he noticed Agent Leigh.

She was just staring ahead, blankly. Her phone dropped from her hand, forgotten as it bounced on the rubber mat of the car floor.

"We can't go yet," Leigh said flatly, monotone... like a zombie. "There's more people, Sean. Kids. Still trapped inside."

"What? How do you know that?"

"It's him," Leigh said, her voice haunted as she turned to look at him. "He's talking to me."