Vipe

“Quick hand me the lasso”

“The train is too fast, you will not be able to hold on to it!!”

“We still need it don’t we? Otherwise we die anyway so now give me the rope!!”

“Aye aye captain”

Marty pushed on the gas and brought the van parallel to the train. The rear mirrors that the train used were trained to look at threats coming from far away so were always at an angle, so the trick to slip by it undetected was to start from the tail end and run dangerously close to it and parallel to it so as to avoid being in the line of vision of the mirrors.

If the drivers noticed any threat in the engine they pulled on a rope which sounded a bell in the wagon with the guards in it who then became alert and acted upon the threat with extreme prejudice.

Dan looked for something to hook the lasso to. He found a metal rod welded to the tank in front of him to which he can hang on to. He signaled Marty to go a little to the front so that he can hook the lasso to it. Marty pressed on the gas again and pushed the van to its limit and they reached the tank. Dan took an aim and threw the rope onto the protruding rod. It quickly latched on to it and Dan got pulled in with it. The van still ran parallel to the tank. Dan’s legs started hitting the ground under him, the rod was too low and the rope was longer than he estimated. He lugged on the rope with force and pulled himself up. The air hitting his face was brutal. It felt like a thousand needles piercing on the face.

He pulled himself to the rod and finally felt the ledge of the tank under his feet. Randy pulls the pipe from the back of the van and slides open the door and screws one end to one of the containers in the back of the van and throws the other end to Dan.

Dan slowly climbs up the smooth surface of the tank with the rod as his support under his feet. He barely reaches the cap closing the tank. He pushes hard on the cap and opens it. Before he can secure it to replace it later, it flies off.

It was the year 2076. Unlike many had predicted, the apocalypse did not come in the form of an Ice Age, but instead it went the other way round. The drought started in 2057 with more than 80% of the countries in the world not receiving any rains. With that came shortage of food, which led to widespread famine. more than 60% of the species of the animal kingdom went extinct. All political structure fell into a disarray and people formed groups to survive now. Only a few reservoirs of water were now left throughout the world. There were no more trees, no more crops and humanity was on the brink of extinction. It is on times like this that people hungry for power seize the opportunity.

Vesil started controlling a small neighborhood in Manhattan and expanded from there to now control the entire of North America within a span of 19 years. There were many wars and a lot of good people died trying to protect the democracy of the nation, but failed. Dan was a part of that war as well. One of the few to escape after being imprisoned and tortured by Vesil’s troops.

In the engine room the drivers were eating their sandwich of beets and onions, when one of them suddenly sees a glint of the cap that flung off shining in the angled mirror. He gets up and looks backward and sees the van running right beside the train and Dan on the train trying to siphon off water into a container on the van. He leaped for the rope tied to the bell and started pulling on it violently.

“Uh Oh Dan, looks like we are gonna have company!!”

“Alright we need to get atleast two containers to have enough water until the next train arrives. Time me I will hold them off as long as I can.”

“Alright Marty boy, calculate time left for Dan”, shouted Randy.

“Already did he has about 10 mins left before the soldiers reach the tank and the containers will fill in about 12 mins!!”

“You have about 2 mins of fight off time in about 10 mins Dan”, conveyed Randy back to Dan.

“Alright, 2 mins ain’t so bad!”

About 15 soldiers started running towards the tank section as soon as they heard the bell ring. They bore Commander Vesil’s mark on their uniforms. They were led by Captain Shaw. Shaw was a cunning man. He was a petty thief before the Vape began, who would even kill someone for a few dollars. His notoriety grew once the Vape started and he soon became one of the biggest mass murderers in North America. One day he went to loot in a department store in Vesil’s area. He held the counter boy at gun point and that was the exact moment when Vesil entered the store too.

“Do you know whose store you are robbing?”, asked Vesil.

“Does it matter as long as its a store and has food in it?”, replied Shaw without even turning his head.

Vesil was impressed and made Shaw his right hand man. Shaw grew in his duties and was now entrusted the most important duty of them all - transport of water to the capital.

Shaw ordered the troops to hurry up.

“If even one of those assholes escape, I will flay the skin out of your backs!!”, he roared.

Randy shifted the tube to the second container now.

Two soldiers climbed onto the platform on which the tank rested. They started towards Dan.

Dan started counting.

“Five Four Three Two One”.

He pulled a thin wire he had installed before they came and they tripped and fell off the tank and the wire snapped with their weight. Three more came on to Dan charging with batons in their hands. Dan grabbed onto the oncoming baton and pulled the soldier with it and pushed him off the tank. He used the baton in his hand now to throw the next soldier off the tank as well.

The third soldier was trying to take the tube from the mouth of the tank, before he could get hold of the tube, Dan threw the baton in his hand  onto him, throwing him off the tank.

Shaw came onto the tank now.

When Dan saw him he recognised him immediately. They had a history, back in the prison. Shaw was one of the prison guards who tortured him. His mind raced through images of Shaw flaying him, knocking him around, threatening him.

For Shaw Dan was the man who escaped from his prison. He had hurt his pride.

This trip just got personal for both of them.

“Second container is done, I am pulling back the tube, Dan come on in, time to go!!”, shouted Randy.

But he saw Dan lunge forward knocking two other guards in his way towards Shaw. They started dealing punches to each other. Randy picked up his catapult in the back of the van. He started aiming at the soldiers trying to help Shaw and knock Dan out.

One of the soldiers was able to knock Dan on his back, and Dan almost lost his footing but grabbed on to a handle on his left and pulled himself back up. Shaw seized the opportunity and hit his face with the baton.

“I want this man captured and alive!Do not knock him over”, shouted Shaw

“And I want this man dead so better not come in my way”, shouted back a glaring Dan

Randy saw that Dan was outnumbered. He saw a patch of soft sand coming up in front of the van. He aimed at Dan’s foot and fired his catapult. Dan stumbled and fell off the train onto the sand patch.

He got up and started running back towards the train to get back on it, but the train was too fast. He and Shaw looked at each other like enemies who were sure that their paths would meet again.

The van pulled out and came by Dan.

“It was my call!!”, shouted Dan holding Randy’s collar

“Live today, fight tomorrow brother!! now let’s go, we have some thirsty mouths waiting for us.

The van pulled into one of the towns abandoned after the Vipe. There was no sign of any life whatsoever to be found anywhere.

Marty honked thrice, and about 100 people appeared from the houses which just minutes ago looked like empty shells.

They were all wearing clothes that were dusty and patched. One person from each household came forward with a small vessel to get their quota of water. Small children looked at them with smiles.

They did not play much anymore since playing meant drinking more water. Life had all come down to making smart water choices.

Half a container of the water was given to Pastor Givens for the vegetable farm.

Dan went afar from the group, his chest heaving of anger.

The sun was setting far in the west and the golden rays from it highlighted the Capital. the place that Dan knew that someday he would have to go back to, to take his revenge and to free the nation of its tyranny.

For now his people had water to drink and he had plans to make.