C.O.T.V.H. (Book 2): Judgment (17 page)

“Cut the crap, Bishop.  I’ve got reports to submit.  Get to the point.”

“Sergeant Major, myself and the other recruits . . .” Jake cleared his throat.  Castle gave him an annoyed look.  “We were wondering if we might take a day off early Sergeant Major.  Tomorrow instead of Sunday as planned.”

“Uh huh.  And why exactly would I let you do that?”

“As a favor, Sergeant Major.”

“A favor?  To you?”

Jake felt his cheeks reddening.  “Yes, Sergeant Major.”

“And why exactly do my recruits need an extra day off?  If the training is too much, perhaps my recruits need to go home to their mommies and leave the hard work for the men.”

“No Sergeant Major, it’s not that at all.  You see, it’s . . .”
Just ask so he can say no already! 
The voice in Jake’s head screamed.  “
Star Wars.”

“
Star Wars
?”  His eyes lit up for the briefest second.  “I assume you’re talking about
Episode I
that is releasing the nineteenth at midnight?”

“Yes, Sergeant Major,” Jake answered.

“Request granted.”  Sergeant Major Castle responded, completely shocking Jake.

“What?!” he blurted out.  “I’m sorry Sergeant Major.”  Jake said.  “Thank you Sergeant Major!

“Don’t thank me yet, Recruit.  You will all pay dearly for this day off.  I promise you that.  Your last week will be the hardest seven days of your life.”

“Yes Sergeant Major.”  Jake replied.  “May I be excused Sergeant Major?”

Jake caught a tiny smile on the corner of his lips.  “You may, Recruit.”

Jake spun and headed for the door.

“Bishop!”  He called just as Jake’s hand reached the doorknob.

Jake spun around terrified that his pass was about to be revoked.  “Enjoy yourself son.  If there is one memory that I’ll never forget, it was of the first time I saw
Star Wars
on the big screen.  If I wasn’t headed to DC tomorrow night I might even consider seeing it myself.”

Jake smiled back at his grizzled instructor.  “Yes Sergeant Major.  Again, thank you Sergeant Major.”

Jake rushed back into the cabin where Donnie, Chris, and Buck were getting ready for rack and nearly exploded.  “We got it!  We got it!”

The three of them stared at Jake in a mixture of confusion and awe.

“Got what exactly?” Chris asked slowly pulling the toothbrush from his mouth.

“The pass!  The pass!  We get tomorrow off!”

“Holy shit!”  Donnie exclaimed leaping off his bunk.

“Bishop!  You amazing son of a bitch!”  Buck yelled out.  “I could kiss you!”

“How?!” Chris exclaimed.

“I’m just that good.” Jake shrugged.

-----

“Holy crap . . .” Diana exclaimed from the back of Chef’s cargo van.  “The line is around the damn block!  We’re
really
going to go stand in line until midnight just to see a movie?”

“You know, no one asked you to come.”  Buck leaned over the front seat and took in the massive line filled with people dressed as their favorite
Star Wars
character.

“What?  You think you guys are the only ones that need a day off?”

“Whisper and Amber didn’t seem to need one,” Chris replied from the very back of the van.

“Well that’s Whisper and Amber’s choice isn’t it?  Me, I
need
a day off.”

“I thought you hated
Star Wars?”
Jake said from the front seat next to Chef.

“I never said I hated it, I said I’d never seen it before.”

Donnie sighed.  “It’s going to be a long, long day.”

Chef nodded his agreement.

“Chef, there’s spot over there.”  Jake pointed to a parking spot at a small laundry mat nearly half a mile from the theater.

Chef pulled into the spot and the group exited one by one.

“Hey!  Hey you!  You can’t park there!”  An elderly woman with a large laundry basket in her hands yelled out.

“We just did.”  Buck said back.

“That is for laundry parking
only!”

“Who are you?  The parking police?  Do you work here or something?”

“No but . . .”

“Then mind your business and go wash your clothes. They’re stinking up the place.”

“Smart ass little punk,” she said walking inside.  “You’ll see punk!  My son is coming to pick me up soon and he’ll show you!”

“Tell him I’ll be waiting in line at the movie theater!  I’ll keep an eye out for him!”  Buck yelled after her.  “Geez man, some people can be so rude.  Do you believe that?” he said to Jake.

“
Yeah,
” Jake said sarcastically.  “I totally see what you mean.  Who does she think she is?”

“Exactly,” Buck said, not picking up on his sarcasm.

Chef started to get back in the van.  “Chef!  Just leave it man,” Buck said.  “It will be alright.”

Chef began signing something.  “Chef, I’m sorry bud, I’ve told you before I can’t read sign.”

“He said he doesn’t want to be rude.” Diana said, leaning against the side of the van. 

“I didn’t know you knew sign language,” Jake said genuinely impressed.

“Oh there a lot of
things
I can do well with my hands,” she signed something to Chef that turned his cheeks red.  He climbed into the van laughing then leaned out the window and shook his head in Jake’s direction.

“Wait?  What did you say to him?” Jake asked.

“Nothing.”  She shrugged, and walked away giving Jake a good look at her tight miniskirt.

Good lord in heaven . . .
he thought. 
She is relentless! 
He couldn’t help but whistle softly through his teeth.

“Uh huh,” Donnie said walking past him.  “Saw that too.  She may not know shit about
Star Wars
,” he said quietly, “but with an ass like that, who cares!”  Both Buck and Chris nodded their consensus.

Chef started up the engine on the old Ford.

“That’s what I thought!” the lady suddenly yelled from the front door of the laundry mat.

Jake rolled his eyes and stepped up to the driver’s side window.  “Alright, Chef, we’ll get a spot in line, okay?” Jake smiled.  “Just don’t take too long.  You might miss out on an hour or two in line.”

Chef nodded then handed Jake a fifty-dollar bill. 

“Nah, Chef.  We got it.  It’s our treat today.”

He shoved the bill into Jake’s hand and raised his eyebrows letting him know he was serious.  “You’re sure?” Jake asked.

Again, Chef nodded.

“Okay then,” Jake smiled warmly.  “Thanks Chef.   I’ll see you in line.”

Chef gave the woman in the laundry mat a polite wave then carefully backed away from the spot.

“At least one of you punks has manners!” she yelled at Jake.

Jake ignored her and jogged to catch up with the others.  Within minutes, they were standing at the back of the line of over two hundred people.  He stared down at his watch to see it was just a few minutes after noon.

Twelve long hours later, the group was finally seated.  Diana sat next to Jake and leaned in closely on his armrest.  The lights dimmed, the trailers ran and finally the
LucasArts
logo came up.  The theater exploded in applause and yelling.

Jake sat enthralled, his eyes glued to the screen as the opening sequence started.  Even though she had her own tub, Diana decided to eat from his popcorn.

“Who’s that guy?” she whispered loudly.

“That’s Obi Wan Kenobi.  He’s a Jedi Knight.”

“What’s a Jedi Knight?” she asked.

I should have let Chris kill her . . .

A little over two hours later, the group exited the theater.

“That was amazing!” Chris exclaimed.

“That was crap!” Buck said angrily throwing his empty popcorn tub into the trashcan outside the theater.  “I feel like Lucas just raped my entire childhood!”

“It wasn’t
that
bad,” Donnie said defensively.  “I mean, the final duel was pretty good.”

“Yeah but that didn’t come close to making up for two hours of shitty dialogue.”  Buck countered.

“Wait?  I don’t get it?” Diana asked wrapping her arm through Jake’s.  “Why was that Darth Sid guy at that Jedi guy’s funeral?  Isn’t he a bad guy?”

Jake sighed loudly.  It had been like this throughout the entire movie.  “I don’t know Diana.” He said a little more rudely than he’d meant to.

“Are you tired of
me
Jakey?” she said leaning in to his shoulder and sticking out her bottom lip.

YES!
He wanted to yell.  “No, it’s okay.  I’m just tired.” He faked a deep yawn, untangling her arm from his.  “Why don’t you guys wait here, I’ll go with Chef to get the van.”

Chef shook his head telling him he didn’t have to come along.

“Okay Chef!  I’m coming!”  Jake yelled so the others would hear.  “You guys stay here in front of the theater; we’ll be back in a few!”

Together he and Chef started walking across the darkened parking lot.  Chef gave him an appraising look.

“What?” Jake asked.

Chef motioned with his head toward Diana and the others.

“Diana?” he asked.

Chef nodded.

“I’m not trying to be a jerk but the girl was driving me freaking nuts.”

Chef shook his head then gently punched him in the shoulder.

“I know!  I know!” he said.  “She’s hot as hell, it’s just . . .” He shook his head. “If I have to hear one more question, just
one
more question, about who that guy is or why that guy’s light saber is green and that guy’s is blue, or why do they wear those baggy robes, who’s the little green guy, who is the
other
little green guy!  I swear Chef, I’m going to lose it!”

Chef laughed.

“Anyway . . . what did you think of the movie?”

Chef waved his hand side to side.  Jake instantly recognized at it as
so-so.

“Yeah same here,” Jake agreed.  “It was missing something.  I can’t place my finger on it, but it just wasn’t the same.  Maybe our expectations were just too high.”

Chef nodded, his eyes suddenly stared off into the darkness of the parking lot.  Jake could see the worry creasing his brow.

“What?” Jake said looking in that direction.  He didn’t see anything but a bunch of empty cars.

Chef continued to stare, gently pushing Jake in front of him so he would be between them.

“Chef, what is it?” Jake asked.

He began walking faster toward the van, never once taking his eyes off the darkened cars.

“Chef, if there’s a problem it should be me that handles it.  I’m the one with training.”

Chef didn’t even acknowledge he’d heard him.  They got to the van and Chef yanked open the doors shoving him into the back.  “Dammit Chef, I wish you could tell me what the hell you’re so jumpy about?!” Jake said, frustrated out of his mind that he didn’t know sign language.

Chef shoved the van in reverse and punched the accelerator spinning the tires and sending Jake flying across the back of the van.  He crashed with a thud into the backdoors and Chef put it in drive and sped toward the theater at top speed.  The tires squealed loudly as he came to a stop.  Jake crawled to the door and pulled it open.

“What the hell?”  exclaimed.

“Just get in!” Jake yelled. “Something’s got Chef spooked.”  At that moment, Jake saw them.  The three cars that had been sitting idly in the parking lot came roaring their direction with headlights still turned off.

“Get in!  Get in!” Jake yelled.

Everyone climbed in and Jake slammed the door shut.  Chef’s foot slammed on the accelerator sending all of them but Chris who had climbed into the passenger seat, bouncing around the van.  Diana hit Jake landing on top of him.  On pure instinct, he wrapped his arms protectively around her and held on tight.  The van sped through the darkened streets of San Angelo at speeds Jake never could have imagined the old Ford capable.  Chef handled each curb and turn with the precision of NASCAR’s finest drivers.  He hit the highway leading back to the Ranch at ninety miles an hour, all three cars kept pace the entire time, never once turning on their headlights.  Now on a straightaway Jake was able to sit back up.  He let go of Diana who smiled at him.

“Sorry,” Jake said sheepishly.

“Thanks.”  She brushed her hair back behind her ear.  “We’ll have to do that again sometime.”

“Why aren’t they turning on their lights?” Donnie asked, voicing the question they were all thinking and breaking the moment between Jake and Diana.

“How do they see anything?” Chris said staring at the side mirror from the passenger seat.

Jake looked to Chef to see that he was sweating profusely under his coveted New York Yankee’s ball cap.  “You know who they are, don’t you Chef?”  He asked. 

Never looking away from the road Chef nodded.

“Oh crap,” Buck suddenly blurted out.

“What?” Jake asked.

“They don’t have their headlights on because they don’t need them!  They can see in the dark!”

“What do you mean they can see in the dark?” Diana asked.  “How could they . . .”

The answer hit them all at the same time.  Vampires.  Makers.

“Punch it Chef!” Donnie yelled.

Jake looked down to see the pedal was pressed all the way to the floorboard; the van didn’t have any more speed.  One by one, the three cars caught up and began boxing them in.

“We’re dead,” Buck said softly.  “There’s got to be at least three of them, probably more!”

“Shut up Buck!” Donnie yelled his own voice dripping with fear.

Sure could use my axe right about now.
Jake thought to himself just before the car in front of them slammed on its brakes.  Chef had no choice but to hit the brakes or put them into the ditch, which at that speed would probably have killed everyone but himself and Chris.   Everyone was thrown forward into the front seats.  The van stopped mere inches from the bumper of the other car.  Chef shoved the van into reverse slamming into the front of the car behind them and shattering the back windows.  The tires spun, spinning rubber but the other car wouldn’t budge.  He put it back into drive and peeled forward only to again be trapped by the car in front.