Denver Overrun (Denver Burning Book 4) (4 page)

“Oh, man. I didn’t know if we were going to make it,” Andrews breathed. “I thought any second one of us would take a bullet, and then it all would have ended right there.”

Alicia looked at him hard. “Andrews, if I get hit, you have to keep going. You have to get away and link up with someone, do some good today. I don’t need you to be a hero. The city needs help far worse than I do.”

“Sure, Sergeant.” Andrews’ dark eyes lingered on her. She busied herself inserting cartridges into the cylinder of her gun, then snapped it back into place and gave it a spin.

“Now let’s move out and see if we can cause some more trouble for these punks that think they can destroy our city.”

They spent the next few hours moving cautiously through their district, looking for the officers they knew had been on patrol. They found one patrol car, Officer Hansen's, but it had been abandoned hours earlier, and the driver-side window was smashed. The smoke coming from the crash site near the northern boundary of their district told them that whatever efforts had been taken to keep it under control weren't going well.

There seemed to be no more shooters in the area, and they did not see the one with the red bandanna again. But there was still plenty of chaos. There was the usual disorder from a prolonged power outage, this time with no backups, no emergency services, and no idea of when it might come back. But there was also the terrible violence, the fires, the sense of instability and danger, and the utter lack of confidence in authority.

It bothered Alicia, almost to the point of tears, although she would never let anyone see her losing control of her emotions. She had always taken satisfaction in being the face of justice and order, the reassuring figure that showed everyone how good had firm control over evil on this side of the world. Now that arrangement had been undermined, and there was a sense lingering in the smoky air that it remained to be determined whether good or evil might now have its day.

The civilians that saw them, those who dared poke their heads out, pled for assistance and news. The two police officers didn't have much to offer of either. They provided some first aid to one woman whose car had smashed into a wall when its engine died. She was grateful, and they advised her family to treat her for shock and stay low for the rest of the evening. But farther on, a man got combative, demanding answers they couldn't give, and Andrews had to draw his weapon to get the man to back off. They chased another couple of punks away from a convenience store whose owner had closed it and left.

As the sun drooped behind the buildings, they came to a block on the western edge of their district and saw one of their squad cars. When they approached, their spirits fell. Officer Mason was inside, dead, seat belt still in place. He had been shot and his car looted.

"We're not doing any good here," Andrews said, squatting on the curb for a breather. "Maybe we should head downtown toward HQ."

"I don't think so," Alicia replied. "That's probably five or six miles. It would be dark by the time we got there. And I'm getting more and more worried about that big fire from the crashed jet. It's going to spread into our district if it burns unchecked."

"What can we do about it without the fire trucks?"

"Get people to safety. Manage the situation as best we can. That's our role. We need to run toward the danger, not away from it."

Andrews nodded. "I'm with you. But if we see any more of those gunmen, I'm going after them. And I'm not stopping until they've paid for this." He gestured to Officer Mason's car.

"Agreed." Alicia led the way back along the wide street that would take them to the fire.  

As they walked, Alicia thought of her family again and wondered if they were watching the news, or if their power was out too. Again she felt grateful that they were out of harm's way-- she refused to consider the possibility that things could be as bad in Salt Lake City as they were in Denver-- and her mind turned to Andrews' family.

"Andrews, you have a wife and kids?" she asked. She realized she had never heard him speak about it.

Andrews walked in silence for a few moments. "No," he finally replied. "I used to. They're gone. I lost them both in a car accident."

Alicia nodded. "I'm sorry. Well, at least..." She stopped herself before saying something insensitive, but Andrews agreed.

"At least they're safe from all this. They're beyond the reach of evil now."  

Something about the way he said this made Alicia curious, and she looked at him but didn't want to put her foot in her mouth again. This was the most she'd ever heard him say about personal matters, and she decided to let him say whatever he would at his own pace.

"My daughter would have been twelve this year," he said, contemplating the sidewalk and they moved toward the smoke pillar ahead. "She and my wife were run off the road by a couple of gang members fleeing a drug bust. They were going ninety miles an hour down Hollister Drive."

Andrews didn't say anything more for a few minutes, so Alicia spoke up. "I'm very sorry to hear about that, Officer Andrews. I guess I can see now why you joined the force. Did you try to get onto the gang unit?"

"No. I knew I'd have a hard time controlling my actions if I got too close to those guys," Andrews replied. "I'm not in this for revenge. I just wanted to dedicate my days to reinforcing the good of society and suppressing the bad, so that my story isn't repeated so often."

Alicia was about to commend her officer for his wisdom, but noise up ahead distracted them both from their conversation. It had been very quiet on the western edge of the district, but as they neared the north side fire area, the cries of people and the roar of flames could be heard from several blocks away.

Alicia stopped a man hurrying away from the smoke with his teen-aged son. "Can you tell us what's going on up ahead?" she asked. "Are there any police or firemen managing this disaster?"

The man shook his head and kept moving. "It's all burning. Nobody can stop it, they're just all trying to get away before another building goes up."

"Well, have there been any shootings in this area?" Alicia called after him.

The man turned, eyes wide with fear. "Shootings? Who's shooting? What's going on?"

Alicia waved him away. "Never mind. Just try to get to safety and stay off the streets." The man didn't need any more encouragement for that, and broke into a run, pulling his son along behind him.

The two police officers crossed out of their district into the area where the jet had gone down. People were swarming out of their apartment buildings, carrying as many belongings as they could. The streets one block closer to the fire were in complete chaos, a writhing mass of humanity that was difficult to move through. But beyond that the streets cleared dramatically, with only a few people darting here and there. The smoke was so thick Alicia had to breathe through her sleeve, with one arm covering her mouth.

She and Andrews could hear the flames crackling and popping now, and there was a thump as something exploded out of sight. "Keep an eye out for hoses and fire extinguishers," she called to Andrews. "We have to do whatever we can to slow this down."

Coming around an empty building they saw the bright orange fire leaping across a rooftop and consuming half of what used to be an apartment complex. The heat hit them like a wave from a hellish ocean, and Alicia fell back. The smoke obscured much of the area, but she thought she could see the asphalt melting in the extreme heat, though it could just have been distortion in the air.

"No amount of water or retardant is going to put that out," Andrews yelled over the noise. "All we can do is help evacuate everyone."

Alicia nodded. She felt dizzy, and wasn't sure if it was the staggering immensity of the fire before them, or the smoke depriving her brain of oxygen. The fire looked like a hungry titan capable of consuming the whole city. She had never seen a fire like this up close, not without a host of fire trucks keeping it contained. It was like the videos she'd seen of forest fires ravaging entire Californian mountainsides, but instead of trees they were buildings being reduced to ash and blackened rubble.

They went back the way they had come and began helping people move away from the fire. Some were desperately trying to drag sacks full of possessions with them, others had just stopped to watch the oncoming wall of smoke in numb shock. These they pushed onward, sometimes yelling at them to get going. One man was struggling to move an expensive-looking bicycle down the street while carrying a large TV under one arm. Alicia grabbed the TV from him, threw it into the gutter, and told the man to flee for his life.

Then she spotted a woman desperately trying to shepherd four small children down the street while carrying a heavy backpack and a baby in her arms. Alicia grabbed one of the kids, a six-year-old boy judging by his size, while Andrews picked up a little girl and put her on his shoulders. He took another girl's hand in his and as they helped the family through the crowded, orange-tinted streets, Alicia thought she saw tears in her officer's eyes.

They hurried away with the family until they were several blocks from the fire, then put the kids down and told the woman that as far as they knew, the area to the south was clear. The woman thanked them and moved her family away into the twilight.

Alicia had to go into an alley to throw up, the smoke in her lungs was choking her so badly. It was almost fully dark now, the smoke having obscured the sun almost completely during its final half-hour of light. Away from the terrible glow of the fire, the stars provided the only illumination. Alicia was struck by just how dark the city was without power. She couldn't even tell where Andrews was when she came out of the alley.

"We need to get some water," his croaking voice came out of the blackness. "And find a place to rest."

"We can't rest," Alicia said, staggering against a wall. She was still very dizzy. "Our shift doesn't end until this mess is all cleaned up."

Andrews put an arm on her shoulder to steady her. "Sergeant," he said in a firm voice. "We need to rest. We've been under high stress since this morning, and our lungs are full of carcinogens, and we won't be any good to anyone if we're collapsing in front of them. Let's get to that parking garage and find a car we can sit in for a while."

There was a massive, boxy shape in the darkness that Alicia assumed was the garage. She didn't know where they were anymore. She let Andrews lead her through the pitch black toward the building, and after several minutes of stumbling across concrete and through doorways that would normally have been illuminated with light, they came out on the third floor.

"This is better. We'll be safer up here," Andrews said. He went along the row of parked cars, trying door handles until he found a large SUV that opened. Alicia climbed into the driver side so her taller companion could have more leg-room. While she rested, Andrews dug through the back of the vehicle looking for water. He didn't find any, but did discover a Bic lighter. Using it as a flashlight, he went looking for other unlocked cars and eventually came back with a bottle of water.

After they had each taken a drink and splashed some of the sweat and char from their faces, they sat in silence. The SUV was facing the open side of the garage with a view over a few rooftops to the northeast. The fire itself was obscured behind buildings, but they could see a faint glow coming from the direction they knew it had spread from.

"Nobody else up here?" Alicia asked.

"I couldn't see or hear anyone," Andrews said. I doubt most people would seek out a dark parking garage, much less the upper floor. We can lock the car doors manually and we'll be all right here until morning."

Alicia sighed. "I can hardly believe all this, Andrews. It's a holocaust. Total meltdown. We never trained for anything like this-- no power, no water, no backup, no comms. Terrorists. Anarchy. And that fire is going to level the whole district if it doesn't die down soon."

"I saw more smoke coming from downtown," Andrews added glumly. "It may be even worse there. Buildings are closer together, and there's more to burn."

They agreed to sleep in shifts, keeping watch for each other so they could each recharge without being overtaken by another calamity. Alicia thought she would go out like a light, but she found herself unable to do so. Too much stress bleeding off.

"Andrews. I screwed up pretty badly today."

"How do you mean?"

"The district station is gone. We lost good men. We haven't been able to stop any of this. It's my fault, my decisions and lack of foresight that kept us from--"

"Someone had to deal with that arsonist, Sergeant. And I don't think there's much you could have done to stop the rest. In the heat of the moment, it's hard to make the right call every single time. Especially without enough knowledge of what's going on to make informed decisions. Don't beat yourself up."

It was exactly what Alicia had wanted to hear, and she felt guilty now for bringing it up at all so he would soothe her conscience. "Yeah, sorry. I'll shut up. It's just that I've spent so much time building up a semblance of order and authority around here. Now in just one day it's gone. There's no meaningful way to enforce the law, nobody left to work with. Except you, of course. But it's hard to watch. It's overwhelming."

Andrew was silent for a long while and Alicia wondered if he had fallen asleep.