Hum

It's now the 21st of October, another day we survived. This morning is different. The clouds are closing the sunlight, the smog is back again, but no sign of possible raining. I run downstairs, leaving Daniel. Outside, I run to the Humvee. Checking it, there's no sign of damage or anyone nearby it. I get inside the Humvee and start it up. The engine roars as I push the pedal.

I leave the engine on for a while. I inspect the interior more carefully. So far, there's radio equipment, a medkit, a couple of caches under the seat, an MG turret, and seatbelts. I turn on the radio and the static noise kicks in right away. It shows 135.9 on the frequency panel, maybe this is the frequency for the bridge border radio. I grab the microphone and try to contact him.

"Testing. Is this on?" I talked through the radio. No answer.

"Come in, uhh, bridge? Are you there?"

Still static noise. I continue to contact him again.

"Come in! This is the refugee speaking. Are you there? Please answer!"

"This is the … speaking. Are you with … safe?"

Finally, he answered. I explain what happened after we cross the bridge, the ambush, and our current situation.

"Glad you and that kid survived. Too bad for him, though. You better keep the Humvee and the kid."

"Why?"

"That Humvee is really important. It's your tool for communication with us, the army. Also, that kid is…"

"What? Did you know him?"

"Uhh, you could say that. I remember him with his dad."

"So what's the deal about his dad and me?"

"His dad is a notorious AC-130 pilot and gunner. Right now, we're still preparing for Operation "New Strike". We'll provide a CAS over New York, as long as you have the equipment and the right frequency."

"Right… So what do you mean is, the right equipment and the right frequency are on me?"

"Yes, the kid has the frequency number. I don't know where, but his dad said that to me. Better protect him at all costs."

"Affirmative, sir!"

"Good. Now I must on my shift and report this back. Trust me, you'll be protected. Over."

"Over and out!"

The radio cuts off. Okay… My task is really tough. I must protect Daniel, secure the Humvee, and wait for the time. I turn off the Humvee and step out when suddenly Daniel appears in front of me.

"Woah! Don't scare me like that. What are you doing here?"

"Just walking." He replied with his phone text-to-speech app.

"Hah, next time knock first, okay? I didn't know you were here and I almost hit you!"

"Sorry."

"Alright. Anyway, did you hear everything?"

He shook his head.

"Okay, get ready for breakfast. Do you want to eat breakfast here or inside?"

He points down, so he means right here.

"Get your stuff ready. We'll eat MRE again today."

He nods and goes back inside, probably grabbing his stuff. In my thoughts, I wonder if he really knows this said "frequency number". He might remember it or it's written in his book. And the Humvee, I say it's not a bad vehicle. But I'm not an expert on maintaining a vehicle, especially cars. I must be very careful not to damage or destroy this.

Daniel came back after a while. Looks like he's troubled about something again. I can see it from his expression.

"What's wrong?"

He didn't answer me.

"Hey, don't give me that cold expression. Let it out."

He grabs his phone and types something.

"Did you ask him about my dad?"

"No, they told me about your dad. You must be eavesdropping me, right?"

He nods.

"Why are you not honest before? But yeah, he told me about the operation, your dad, and protecting you. So, it's a hard task for me."

He chuckled a bit. I kneel in front of him and pat his shoulder.

"But that's fine. I love helping people. You're no different. Maybe you've done bad things before, but that doesn't matter. I'll help you, I'll help the army, and I'll help the nation."

He types again.

"What about you? You'll be killed by them or you'll go rogue."

"First, yeah the risk is high. I'm basically a big rewarding bounty for them, but I'll die as a hero. Second, nope. I won't go rogue. If I do, I'll be dead as fast as the 105 mm shoot from the AC-130."

I joked about AC-130 stuff, resulting in Daniel push me back and I fall. I saw some smile on Daniel's face, glad he didn't take the joke too seriously. I get up and proceed to eat breakfast inside the Humvee.

****

Some miles have passed and the streets are still the same as in Manhattan. Empty, filled with wrecks, trashes, and dust. Now, Daniel is beside me riding shotgun, keeping his eyes for a potential ambush. We're both bored with this. I take a chance to talk.

"Hey! Wanna do some shooting practice with the 50?"

He nods.

"Alright. We need to find an open field or an empty street."

With that, I take some turns again to find a suitable place for shooting place. After about 5 minutes, we find a good place. A wide intersection with 4 wrecked vans in various distances. I place the Humvee right in the middle of the road and prepare the training. Daniel is checking the M2 Browning machine gun, while I'm looking for any spare ammunition in the trunk. Luckily, I found 5 ammunition boxes filled with .50 BMG bullets, chained, and ready to be used. I climb over the Humvee and look at Daniel, still confused with the gun's mechanism.

I explain some basic mechanisms of the gun and teach him how to do so. After that, I load the gun with the available ammo box beside it. Now, for the training…

"Before you pull the trigger, cover your ears with this!" I told Daniel as I hand out a used earphone. I've cut off the cable before.

"This gun is very loud! You'll be deaf if you shoot it too long. This will muffle the sound of it."

Daniel takes the earphone and wears it. I also wear it, but only in my right ear. My left ear still hurts and already deaf. I'm sitting beside Daniel, assisting him to the target.

"First, shoot at the closest van. Start with single-fire, then burst, and full auto for finishing. Get used with the recoil, it may shock you at first."

Daniel nods, and begin to shoot the targeted van. But, only a click can be heard.

"Ah, you forgot to pull the charging handle. Pull it!"

Daniel hesitates and tries to shoot again. A burst of flame emitted from the muzzle followed with a loud bang. We were both shocked, but I managed to not fall off the Humvee. I check the van and see a bullet hole.

"Good, but try to aim better with the iron sight!"

Daniel nods and prepares to shoot again. I saw his excited face, that's a good thing. He shoots again and again, getting better with the gun. He then tries to burst-fire it and going with full auto. He didn't flinch or shock, he just enjoyed it. I give him some compliments as he getting better. I also scan the surrounding for any movements. So far, no one in sight.

After about 3 minutes, I tell Daniel to stop.

"Alright, Daniel. That's it for now. Conserve some ammo, don't waste it too much!"

I jump down and get inside the Humvee. Daniel still sitting on the turret.

"You wanna stay there?"

He nods.

"Okay, but use your mask! It's really dusty around here!"

Daniel then puts his mask on, I also do the same. Time shows 11 AM as we leave the "shooting range". Good thing Daniel wanted to be the turret gunner for whatever reason, but I'm still worried about it. The turret has some protective shield on the side and back, but it's possible to get shot from the top. Well, let's see how it goes…

****

I'm just humming while driving to nowhere. I don't know how many tunes I have hummed. Daniel still in the turret, sitting and waiting. I stop for a while and look for any GPS receiver inside. I found one and turn it on.

Well, we're near the Bay Ridge area. I hope there's any military base nearby. Not for raiding, of course, but for resupply and report this. I really don't know how to operate this type of GPS, so I just eyeball it to the Bay Ridge.

"Daniel! Get inside! You'll get cold if you stay in there too long!" I ordered Daniel, which he complied with. He sits in the back now, kinda tired.

"You can sleep if you want, but be aware of the bumps. I'll wake you up when we arrived."

He nods and lies down to sleep. Watching him sleeping makes me sleepy, but I need to stay focus. The road is still long, our destination is still unknown, and there are many unexpected surprises waiting. I take a sip of my drink and keep driving…