Carl was apprehensive heading out of town. When they had entered town, he had been shot. Would the local gangs be guarding this road? He kept his eyes moving, sorting through the information about people he saw. There were more people walking around and hardly any cars. A lot of people were conspicuously armed, and a fair number seemed interested in their van as they drove by.

Carl wished his software would highlight enemies. Maybe it could make their name show up in red. That was a good idea! He would tell Scott. It shouldn’t be too hard to just change the color of some text. He opened up a built-in notepad and jotted down his great idea. Oh, it would be better if there was some kind of glow or highlight in case he didn’t have time to look at the HR text. Maybe it could also change color when his gun was aimed at them. That would really help him in a fight! Another great idea went in his notepad. Wait, it would be even better if he could see where his bullets would hit. Like one of those mouse cursors on the computers Carl had seen people using. Carl was so excited about all his ideas, he barely noticed that they were approaching the camp.

The camp was a mass of tents off the side of the road on what used to be a working farm. The farmhouse had been burned to the ground. There were temporary buildings set up surrounded by a chain link fence and the two entrances had several heavily armed guards that looked like soldiers. Carl was able to confirm that they were National Guard.

At the entrance, Terrance left his weapons behind. People had to register here in order to get a tent and food rations. There was a long line to talk to the administrators. Carl and Sotera waited in the car. The people in the camp looked dirty and underfed. It reminded Carl of refugee camps he had seen when surfing the internet to get caught up on world events.

“Hey Sotera, do you mind if I walk around a bit. We have a list of secondary targets to contact. I think if any of them are here, they would consider going with us.” Carl said.

“Sure, just leave your weapons in the van. We don’t want trouble with the soldiers.” Sotera replied.

Carl walked around the camp scanning. A small boy was in his path, looking up at him.

“Are you a superhero?” The boy asked. Carl could see how a kid would think that, considering his awesome muscles and sweet body armor.

“Actually, I’m a cyborg! I’m on a mission, young Jeremy” Carl replied. He had found calling people by their name always left an impression.

“What’s a cyburg?” The kid asked.

“I’m half human, half robot.” Carl announced, disappointed in the kid’s poor level of education in all things awesome. “I’m on an important secret mission, so please don’t tell anyone.”

“My parents said that if a stranger tells me to keep a secret, they are a bad person.” The kid said. Carl made a hasty retreat. What kind of nonsense were they teaching kids these days?

Carl spotted a man he identified as Matt’s dad, Chris Stanton. He introduced himself and explained what they were doing.

“So, you want to get us out of here and take us to Mexico, where you are building somewhere we can all live? Will we be able to find jobs there?” Chris asked.

“Of course! We are expanding rapidly, and the boss said they could find work for anyone who wanted it. Everyone on my list has a sponsor who will either co-sign or help purchase a home for you. In your case, Matt said he would buy you a home outright. He’s kind of a big deal in the company, so he can probably afford it.” Carl explained.

“Matt is a big deal?” Chris asked, surprised. “I heard he had a job doing robotics and was starting a company with his friends, but they just started last year. I guess I have a lot to get caught up on. He hasn’t shared that much, and we’ve been out of touch since the cell phone towers were destroyed.”

“Matt is one of the owners of several companies, but he’s a big shot in robotics. I haven’t worked much with him, but I heard he got a lot of money when they handed out bonuses at the company party a few weeks ago. If you come with us, you can catch up on the details when we get back.” Carl explained. He filled them in on the transportation plans. Chris found his wife Vickie and explained what Carl had told him.

“I’m happy to get out of here, but could we bring some of our friends? How big is the house we are getting? I think we could fit in a couple other families if it was a normal-sized apartment. How much would our food rations be?” Vickie had a lot of questions.

“I’ll probably have to ask my team leader about some of that,” Carl admitted. “We have a list of people who aren’t fully sponsored, but they can get a loan to buy their house if they are willing to get a job. We’re catching a ride back on our cargo ship, which means it won’t be a luxury cruise. You’ll be camping in one of the holds, but they have plenty of food and bedding for the trip, which is only about one day. There is probably room for a few extra people, but I’ll need to confirm if we are allowed. I have satellite internet, so I’ll ask about that and your other questions.”

Carl opened up a chat application in his heads-up display.

“Hey Melinda,” he messaged.

“Hi Carl! How is Texas?” Melinda replied. They continued chatting for a couple of minutes. To Matt’s parents, it looked like Carl was staring into space.

“Is he asleep?” Vickie whispered.

“I have no idea. Should we try to get his attention?” Chris waved his hand in front of Carl, getting no response. He wasn’t quite brave enough to poke the over-muscled stranger.

“Oh, sorry about that!” Carl said. “I’m still getting used to this tech. I must have looked like a big dope standing there! I have a messaging app that shows up in my vision, but I sometimes forget what’s going on around me.”

“OK…” Chris said, confused. “Were you communicating with your boss somehow?”

“Yeah, Melinda said we could bring up to 100 people who weren’t on the list if one of the primary families vouched for them. No one is buying them a home, so at least one person per family needs to take a job and get a loan. She said they would get the same discounted price.”

“Are the Yong’s on the list?” Vickie asked.

“Barry’s parents? Yeah, they are a primary family too. Would you mind passing on the information and maybe rounding up anyone else you think needs an invitation?” Carl asked.

“Also, do you happen to know if the Fosters are in this camp? Adriana’s parents.” Carl explained.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Sorry, we don’t know them. I don’t know a lot of the people in the camp, so they might be here.” Chris said with a shrug.

“OK, I guess I’ll wait and see if Terrance finds them in the office records. It was nice to meet you, and we’ll return to pick you up.” Carl left to go find his teammates. On his way back, Carl found a couple secondary targets and gave them the offer. A boy named Alvaro Ignacio and his family were interested. The boy had gone to school with the other young people and seemed desperate to go anywhere that would have electricity and internet.

Terrance confirmed that the families Carl had already found were in the camp, and Adriana’s parents were not there. They got back in the car and started driving towards another camp further South. Once again, Terrance went to the administrative office while Carl walked through the camp looking for people on their list. Halfway through the camp, Carl noticed a lot of people talking anxiously and looking at the road to the South. He glanced over and saw a line of cars and trucks heading towards the camp. They hadn’t seen this much traffic since leaving Houston. Carl noticed some of the vehicles were pickup trucks and as they got closer, he could see armed men in the back. The people in the camp were getting very agitated, and many were scrambling to find family members and grab their meager possessions.

This was not good! Carl thought. His guns were back at the van. He started sprinting back. Sotera had also spotted the group approaching and was telling Carl and Terrance to get back quickly. Their vehicle, guns and gasoline made them am obvious target to whoever these people were. Carl was quick, but he was the last to arrive.

“Carl, can you ID those guys?” Terrance asked.

“The ones in the trucks are Apache Revenge gunman.” Carl said. This was a group they had wanted to avoid.

The guards at the camp had already started firing. Carl watched as one of the SUVs near the front of the group swerved off the road and rolled over. A couple other vehicles near the front pulled off on either side of the road and men with guns got out and returned fire at the camp security. Some bullets even hit their van as they were driving away. Sotera hit the gas and headed away on the road back to town. Carl leaned out the window and started firing. The distance and bumps in the road made it hard to tell if he had hit anything. That was another idea to give to Scott. They should add tracers to see where his bullets went when he shot.

The Apache Revenge vehicles reached the camp guards, who by now had stopped firing. Carl assumed they were injured or dead. Four vehicles split from the main group and pursued Carl’s van. He really missed his A-Team van. With armor and a rail gun they could have taken out this whole group, but now they just hoped they could get away in their unimpressive rental van. Carl’s last burst had hit the windshield of the lead car, but the driver did not lose control. The passenger was firing a handgun through the front, and he came close to hitting Carl who was leaning out the window. One of their rear tires went flat and Sotera was clearly having trouble keeping the van from rolling.

“Put your helmets on!” Terrance yelled as their van was skidding to a stop. He handed Carl a tactical helmet. Sotera had somehow already put his on. As the van stopped, Terrance and Sotera leapt out and started firing from prone positions. Carl was fiddling with his helmet when he felt a powerful blow to his side knock the wind out of his lungs. He scrambled out the door and laid down, gasping for air. He scanned their attackers.

A few of their attackers were already down, and the rest had taken cover, trying to avoid Sotera and Terrance’s accurate fire. Carl identified one as a Lieutenant and took careful aim. When the guy poked his head around one of the vehicles, Carl managed to hit him with a burst. The guy dropped to the ground. Carl felt a sharp pain in his right leg. The armor on his arms and legs was thin Kevlar, which wouldn’t stop a bullet from breaking bones or causing a huge contusion. The force turned his calf into a mess of crushed muscle and torn ligaments. Carl rolled into a shallow ditch on the side of the road with a groan but kept firing. These guns were garbage compared to the flechette rifles they used at home, but he fired like he had been trained in controlled bursts to conserve ammo.

Carl saw Sotera was bleeding and Terrance had moved behind the van and was firing under the skid plate. Some of the gang members were yelling.

“You guys are dead!”

“Give up now, and we’ll kill you quick!”

This was a bad situation. Their van was shot up, and the gang members might get reinforcements soon. They were out of sight of the camp, so Carl didn’t know how long they had before the main group finished what they were doing and headed this way.

He scanned the group for any other guys with interesting titles. Also, Carl wanted their names so he could taunt them better. Most were just gunmen, but one was labeled a sharp-shooter, and a guy in one truck was a radio operator. He assumed that the guy was staying in the vehicle to talk to the main group. Carl lined up a shot and managed to hit the 'sharp-shooter' in the foot. The man crawled back into one of the trucks. Nice!

“Nice shot,” Sotera grunted. He was starting to look a little pale.

“Hey Marshall!” Carl yelled, “Your mom told me last night she was really ashamed of you!”

“Who are you?” The guy named Marshall yelled, sounding angry.

“I’m your dad!” Carl announced. A couple of the goons chuckled too.

“Laugh it up, Corey!” Carl continued, “Your mom begged me to go out with her too, but she was too ugly!”

“Do we know this guy?” One of the other thugs asked.

“You wouldn’t remember me, Murray, but your mom will never forget!” Carl replied. Several people started firing at Carl. He had good cover in the ditch, so he thought it was worth distracting these idiots. Terrance was able to hit one of the men who had started walking towards Carl to get a better shot.

“We got what we came for.” The radio guy shouted. “Let’s go. We’ll get these clowns some other time.”

“You should listen to Brad!” Carl announced. “Running away is the best option when you're a LOSER!”

Most of the guys got back into their vehicles, but a couple were still taking shots, ignoring their orders. Terrance rolled out from behind the van and took them out with two shots. Three of the remaining vehicles drove away.

Terrance quickly checked on Sotera and patched up a hole that had gone through his right hand. He had taken some other hits and was having trouble moving, but it didn’t stop him from talking.

Carl couldn’t walk with the serious injury to his leg. Terrance injected him with some pain meds and a special healing cocktail, but he wouldn’t be able to walk on it for several days. Sotera’s hand would be useless until they got time in one of their medical labs. Still, he was in a good mood.

“Those millennials can’t handle Carl’s 1980s style trash talking! They are probably going to cry and call their mothers to see if any of it is true!” Sotera laughed.

“I can’t believe those two guys stepped out of cover to try to get a better shot at Carl. Nice work!” Terrance said enthusiastically.

“Thanks. Too bad our van is pretty wrecked. It looks like some bullets went through the engine block.” Carl said. He enjoyed the praise, but they were still in a bad situation.

“Looks like they left a car for us.” Terrance pointed out. One of the cars, a Chevy Impala that looked at least 20 years old, was still idling by the road. The driver and passengers had not survived.

“Let’s go see what’s happening at the camp. Then we’ll see if we can tow our van back to town.” Terrance ordered. He helped Carl get into the front passenger seat, and Terrance took the driver’s seat.

They drove slowly towards the camp, not wanting to rush in if the gang was still there. After they went over a small hill, they could see smoke from several fires. They saw a few of the gang’s vehicles heading out on the other road. This had been a quick raid, although it seemed costly since the guards had destroyed one vehicle in addition to what Carl’s group had done.

Carl stayed in the car, but kept an eye on the road, scanning anyone who came nearby. Most people were staying clear of their vehicle, obviously wanting to avoid anyone with guns right now.

After about 20 minutes, Terrance and Sotera returned accompanied by a middle-aged couple with a teenage boy who he identified as Adriana’s family. They somehow squeezed into the car.

“The Fosters are ready to leave as soon as possible. The gang came through and kidnapped six young women. None were on our list, but I am not going to sit back and let them get away with that.” Terrance said. Normally calm or joking around, Terrance’s eyes narrowed, and his mouth was fixed in a tight line.

“Before we leave this camp, we will find anyone with military training willing to volunteer. Then, we’re towing the van back to town, and I’m going to make some calls. The Dark Siren is not far away, and they have some special supplies they can drop off in an emergency. Carl, you have until tomorrow to fix that van and add any upgrades you can manage - hire some help if you need to and don’t worry about the cost,” Terrance ordered.

Even if it meant fixing up another van, Carl was eager to get to work.