Louis Collins: A Post-American Odyssey

Louis and his team walked out of the RV. Petrov entered his SUV and drove away.

Zhang looked at Louis. “My team will operate from here with Foxtrot Team.”

“Good,” Louis said. “Protect them.”

Zhang nodded and went back to his SUV, where Dave was being held. García gathered his team beside a tree and briefed them. A guard from Yamamoto’s team brought them a case of SAU-30s.

“Here you go, Mr. Collins, ma’am,” the guard said, opening the case. Louis took one of the rifles. It was lighter than he expected, with a sleek design and a grenade launcher under the barrel.

“Sausages for the family,” Gladice said, taking one too. “I’m getting wet.”

Savannah took one and checked the magazine. “Let’s hope they’re as good as they look.”

Maeve picked up her rifle and a combat helmet. “Let’s go kill some bastards.”

Louis put on a helmet and a tactical vest. He looked at Angelique. “Take care of the RV and your team.”

“You take care of yourself, Louis,” Angelique said, kissing him. “We’ll be watching.”

“I will,” he said. He watched Gladice help Savannah with her vest. He then looked at Maeve. “Ready, Mae-Mae?”

Maeve nodded, her face grim. “Ready, boss.”

Louis turned to Yamamoto. “I hope you have extra seats in your SUVs.”

Yamamoto nodded. “We do, sir. Two spare seats in each. You can ride with my team and Delta Team.”

“Good,” Louis said. “Let’s move.”

He got into Yamamoto’s SUV with Gladice. Savannah and Maeve got into García’s SUV. The two SUVs drove out of the clearing and into the forest.

“We’re honored to have you aboard, sir,” a guard said to Louis. “It will be an honor to fight with you.”

“The honor is all mine, soldier,” Louis said. “What’s your name?”

“Corporal Frederick Green, sir,” the guard said.

“It’s good to meet you, Corporal,” Louis said. “You’re from California?”

“Yes, sir,” Frederick said. “I’m from San Diego. I joined the Dominion Guard right after university. I always wanted to serve you and your family.”

“You’re doing a great job,” Louis said. “I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you, sir,” Frederick said, his face beaming. “I’m ready to die for the Supreme President and the Dominion any day.”

“None of us are dying today, Corporal,” Louis said. “Our enemies are. Got it?”

“Yes, sir!”

Gladice looked at Frederick. “You’re cute. Are you single?”

Frederick’s face turned red. “No, ma’am. I have a girlfriend in the navy. She’s a pilot.”

“Is she hot?” Gladice asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Frederick said.

“Good for you,” Gladice said, winking at him. “Don’t get shot today. Your girlfriend would be sad.”

“I will do my best, ma’am,” Frederick said, his face even redder.

Yamamoto looked at Louis. “We’re getting close, sir. We will engage in five minutes with our SUVs at the main gate for a direct assault. Stay in the vehicle until we clear the immediate area.”

“Copy that, Captain,” Louis said.

He looked at Gladice. “You ready for some fun, Gladie?”

“I was getting bored after we returned to the Dominion,” Gladice said, checking her rifle. “I needed some action.”

“I know the feeling,” Louis said. He looked at the small screen on the dashboard, showing the drone feed from Zhang’s team. “It looks like they’re almost done loading the vans.”

Yamamoto switched on the comms. “All teams, this is Charlie. We are approaching the objective. Initiate the attack on my mark.”

Petrov’s voice came through. “Alpha Team is in position.”

“Bravo Team is ready,” Zhang said.

“Delta Team is ready,” García said.

“Echo Team is ready,” Louis said. “Let’s do this.”

“Foxtrot Team is ready,” Angelique’s calm voice said. “Good luck, everyone.”

“Mark,” Yamamoto said.

A single shot rang out from the ridge. The sniper in the watchtower crumpled. A split second later, the two patrol guards near the main gate fell. Almost simultaneously, the drone feed on Louis’s screen flickered as the Bravo Team jammed their communications. Then, two grenades launched from the drone streaked toward one corner of the compound. The explosions ripped through the guard post there. Another combat drone fired its grenade launcher at the main gate, blowing it open.

“Gate is clear!” Zhang’s voice yelled.

The two SUVs roared out of the forest, their tires spitting dirt. The mini-guns on their roofs opened up. A stream of bullets tore into the guards near the barn, cutting them down. The remaining guards scrambled for cover, returning fire. A few bullets pinged off the armored SUVs.

“Go, go, go!” Yamamoto yelled.

Louis’s SUV screeched to a halt near the smoking gate. Yamamoto and Frederick jumped out, firing their SAU-30s. More enemy guards fell. Louis and Gladice stayed inside, watching the chaos. García’s SUV parked behind them. Two more guards from Delta Team jumped out and joined the firefight. The girls in white dresses screamed and ran for cover. Some of them hid behind the vans. Others tried to run toward the forest.

“That’s them,” Gladice said, pointing at the screen. “The girls.”

Another shot came from the ridge, taking out a guard aiming from a cabin window. The mini-guns stopped firing as their driver and a guard got out and joined the assault. Louis looked at the screen. “Captain, what’s the situation?”

“Outside is mostly clear,” Yamamoto’s voice said through the comms. “Delta Team is preparing for breach. Echo Team, you are a go.”

“Copy that,” Louis said. “Let’s move.”

He and Gladice got out of the SUV. Savannah and Maeve joined them. The four of them ran toward a group of girls hiding behind one of the vans. They were in their late teens and early twenties. Some of them were crying. Others were staring at the intruders with wide eyes. They wore simple white cotton dresses and sandals. Their hair was pulled back in braids.

“Hey, we’re here to help,” Louis said, his voice calm. “We’re getting you out of here.”

The girls looked at each other, confused and scared. One of them, a young woman with auburn hair and freckles, stepped forward. “Who are you? What do you want?”

“I’m Louis Collins,” Louis said. “We want to take you to a safe place.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “The Louis Collins? From the Dominion?”

“Yes,” Louis said. “That’s me. These are my family.”

The girl looked at Gladice, Savannah, and Maeve.

“Look out!” Gladice fired a burst from her SAU-30, cutting down a guard on the ground reaching for his sidearm.

The girls screamed and huddled together.

Louis turned to Savannah. “Savvy, check if the van works.”

Savannah nodded and ran to the driver’s seat of the van. She tried the key. It turned on. “It works!”

“Good,” Louis said. “Gladice, Maeve, get them in the van. Now.”

“Let’s go, ladies,” Gladice said. “No need to be shy.” She guided the terrified girls to the van’s sliding door, then turned to Louis. “There are too many to fit in one van.”

“Take the others to the pickup,” Louis said. “And get them moving.”

“Copy that, boss,” Gladice said.

Louis spoke into the comms. “Alpha Team, we need two drivers for a van and a pickup. Send them in.”

“On the way, sir,” Petrov’s voice said.

Maeve opened the pickup’s door and gestured to the remaining girls. “Get in.”

The girls hesitated. “We can’t leave,” the auburn-haired girl said. “Brother John will be angry.”

“Brother John can go fuck himself,” Maeve said. “Get in the truck, or I’ll throw you in.”

The girl looked at Maeve, then at the chaos. She finally nodded and got in the pickup. The others followed.

“Where are you taking us?” a girl with blond hair asked, her voice trembling.

“To our command center,” Louis said. “Then we will decide the best way to get you home.”

“This is our home,” the auburn-haired girl said. “You can’t take us from it.”

“Shut up and get in the truck, honey,” Savannah said. “This is for your own good.”

Alpha Team’s SUV arrived and two guards got out. One ran to the van, the other to the pickup. “Where to, sir?”

“Back to the RV,” Louis said. “Go fast. And watch out for any surprises.” He looked at the auburn-haired girl. “Seal her mouth if she keeps talking.”

“Yes, sir,” the guard said, getting into the van. The other one got into the pickup. Both vehicles turned around and sped away.

Louis watched them go, then looked at the barn. “Captain, how’s the breach going?”

“Charlie Team has secured the ground floor of the barn,” Yamamoto’s voice said. “We found a basement. We are holding at the entrance.”

“Copy that,” Louis said.

“Delta Team reports,” García’s voice came through. A burst of gunfire echoed. “Engaging hostiles in the main cabin.”

“Use non-lethal if you see a man who looks like Dan Turner,” Louis said.

“Copy that, sir,” García said.

“Echo Team, move to the barn,” Louis said. “We’re going with Charlie Team.”

Louis, Gladice, Savannah, and Maeve ran toward the barn. The door was open. Inside, they saw several dead guards on the floor. Yamamoto and Frederick were standing near a trapdoor. Two other guards joined them from the barn’s loft.

“Any sign of Brother John?” Louis asked.

“Not yet, sir,” Yamamoto said, pointing at the trapdoor. “Could be down there.”

“Let’s find out,” Louis said. “What’s your plan?”

“We’re going to send a flashbang down,” Yamamoto said. “Then we go in. Fast and hard.”

“Sounds good,” Louis said. “My team will follow.”

Yamamoto nodded to Frederick, who pulled a pin from a flashbang and tossed it down the trapdoor. A loud bang and a bright flash came from below. Yamamoto and Frederick descended into the basement. Louis and the others followed. It was more like an underground bunker. A hallway stretched ahead, with several doors on each side. The walls were made of concrete. A single naked light bulb flickered overhead.

Yamamoto raised a hand. “Second door on the right. Three heat signatures.”

Louis nodded. “Snake cam.”

Frederick took a small camera on a flexible cable from his vest and slid it under the door. A small screen on his wrist showed the feed. Three men were inside taking cover and aiming at the door with their rifles. One of them matched Dan Turner’s photo.

“Shit,” Maeve said. “Dave’s brother is in there.”

“I’d rather throw a grenade in there,” Gladice said, her finger on the trigger. “Solve the problem for good.”

“I made a promise, Gladie,” Louis said. “And I intend to keep it.”

“So we can’t just shoot them?” Gladice asked.

“We can shoot the other two,” Louis said. “But I want Dan Turner alive.”

“Understood, sir,” Yamamoto said. “We will breach the door with a charge. Then we will flashbang the room. Cover us from the hallway.”

“Copy that,” Louis said. “On three.”

Yamamoto placed a small explosive on the door. “One.”

Frederick took another flashbang. “Two.”

“Three,” Louis said.

The door exploded inward. Frederick tossed the flashbang. A loud bang and a bright flash came from the room. Charlie Team stormed in, their rifles spitting fire. Two of the men fell. Frederick rushed toward the last man and gave him a hard hit with the butt of his rifle. The man fell to the floor.

Meanwhile, a man emerged at the end of the hallway. Louis fired a burst from his SAU-30. The man went down. The recoil was so light he barely felt the impact.

“Room clear!” Frederick yelled. “Target secured!”

Louis looked to the other two Dominion Guards. “That’s our prisoner. Take him to the SUV and wait for us.”

“Yes, sir,” one of them said, grabbing Dan Turner by the arm and dragging him away.

“Delta Team, we’ve secured the prisoner,” Yamamoto said into the comms. “What’s your status?”

“We have the main cabin,” García’s voice came through. “There’s a basement too. We’re about to breach.”

“Copy that,” Yamamoto said.

He turned to Louis. “Sir, let’s move.”

Louis nodded. “Echo Team, with me.”

They followed Yamamoto deeper into the bunker. They passed a room filled with shelves of food and water. Then a room with bunk beds. Another room was a makeshift studio, with a camera, lights, and a green screen. It looked like the one they used for the porn videos.

“Bastards,” Maeve said.

“Keep moving, Echo Team,” Louis said. “We need to secure the whole area.”

They reached the end of the hallway. The sound of gunfire came from the other side of a heavy steel door. Yamamoto put a charge on the door.

“Stand back,” he said.

They stepped back. The door exploded. García and three of his guards were already inside. They were firing at a figure in the corner of the room. The room was a large chapel. Pews were arranged in rows. A cross was on the wall. The figure in the corner was a man in a black robe. He was holding a pistol. He fired back, but he was outgunned. A bullet hit him in the chest. He stumbled and fell.

“Hold your fire!” Louis yelled.

The gunfire stopped. García and his guards moved forward, their rifles aimed at the fallen man.

Louis walked over to him. The man was bleeding from a wound in his chest. He was in his fifties, with a gray beard and piercing eyes. He looked at Louis with a mixture of fear and defiance.

“Brother John, I presume,” Louis said, kneeling beside him.

The man coughed, blood bubbling from his lips. He smiled despite the pain. “Louis Collins. I’ve been expecting you.”

“You have?” Louis asked, surprised.

“I have,” the man said, his voice raspy. “I knew you would come. For the girls. And for me.”

“Why would you think that?” Louis asked.

“Because you are a man of passion, Louis Collins. And you are a man of God. Even if you don’t know it yet.”

“I’m not a man of God,” Louis said. “I’m here to give you hell.”

“I know,” the man said. His head fell to one side, and his body went still.

Louis stood up. “He’s dead.”

“Shit,” Gladice said. “I wanted to interrogate him.”

“So did I,” Louis said, shaking his head. “Damn it.”

“Maybe he has something on him,” Savannah said, kneeling beside the body and searching it.

“Nothing,” Savannah said, standing up. “No phone. No wallet. Nothing.”

“We need to find his records, then,” Louis said. “And any computers he might have used.”

Constantine’s voice came through the comms. “Louis, what’s the status?”

“Brother John is dead, Dad,” Louis said. “We’re searching the compound now.”

“I see,” Constantine said. “I have bad news. Several UIS teams are heading your way. They are about thirty minutes away. I’ve stalled them as much as I could, but once they are here, you have to give up everything you got and let them handle the rest.”

“Fuck. How did they find us so fast?” Louis asked.

“I told them,” Constantine said. “In exchange for the Central Union agreeing not to charge you, your family and our guards with any crimes you may have committed.”

“What?” Louis asked. “You sold us out?”

“I saved your ass, son,” Constantine said. “President White is not happy. Neither is the UIS. They consider you a threat to their sovereignty. I had to make a deal.”

“So we just leave?” Gladice asked, her face grim.

“That’s the deal,” Constantine said. “But take what you can before they arrive. And I mean everything that can help us find out who was behind the Common Roots. We need that intel.”

“Understood,” Louis said. “We’re on it.”

“Good luck, son,” Constantine said, and the comms went silent.

Louis looked at Yamamoto. “We have thirty minutes. Let’s make them count.”

“Fifteen minutes, sir,” Yamamoto said. “We need at least fifteen to get back to the RV and get clear of the area before they arrive.”

“Then we have to hurry,” Louis said. “Are we sure this is all of them? No more hostiles?”

“We’ve cleared the whole compound,” García said. “We’re secure.”

“Good,” Louis said. “Echo Team, start looking for any records. Computers, phones, papers. Anything that you find helpful. Let’s meet back here in ten minutes. Don’t get lost.”

“Copy that, boss,” Maeve said, her eyes gleaming. “Let’s go find some treasure.”

They split up and started searching the rooms.