The Saga of Trippercop - The Moving Mountain

The Saga of Tripper Cop
“The Moving Mountain”

As the alarm clock shrieked through his waking mind he realized morning broke far earlier than he would have liked, which is never. He lied upon a bed with no sheets half covered by a barf colored blanket and surrounded by dirty pillows without cases. As he reaches over to turn off the howling wail from the clock he knocks over an empty bottle of Wild Turkey whiskey which falls off the floor and takes its place among the food wrappers, dirty laundry, and other debris scattered on the ground of the small apartment. He slides feet on to the floor as he sits on the end of the bed, running his fingers through his greasy brown hair, and gets up to go to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror he takes a look at the stubble on is face and judges it is well past a five o'clock shadow, probably closer to eight or nine o'clock, but he only shaves once it reaches midnight. He splashes some water on his face takes a few swigs of Listerine then looks in the mirror. “How did I get here? Did I do this to myself or did somebody do this to me?” He walks over to his dresser and opening the top drawer reveals a menagerie of pills, vials, and various bag filled with powder. He rummages around until he finds a small glass bottle with a dropper-top. Carefully, he sucks a small amount of the clear liquid out of the bottle and drips a single drop into his right eye. It stings a bit, but he will be fine in an hour or so. Inside his closet hangs a tattered and stained navy blue uniform which he puts on. He grabs his cap of the wall and heads out the door somewhat ready for the day.
Walking out his door he is greeted by his portly neighbor in the parking lot. “Is that you John!?” She says.
“I don't know. I'm John T. I don't know who he hell U. John is.”
“Isn't it a nice day?”
“Never seen a mean day, so what are we comparing it to?”
She laughs and waves him goodbye as she goes back to deep frying a turkey. “Goddamn, blimp, airhead, full of air....” John mutters under his breath as he gets into the car.
His patrol car was large 1991 Ford LTD Crown Victoria. It was not a new car. It was box shaped. Nobody else at the station wanted it. “Old, rigid, and unwanted,” he thought to himself. “No wonder I like this car.” The interior of his car look just like the floor of his apartment except with more fast food wrappers and less beer cans. Soon he arrives at the station to be greeted by a couple of his co-workers.
“Why if isn't John E. Trip! Peace officer extraordinaire!” Says Officer Shortkok.
“Well, well! Hey Johnny, you catch that elusive criminal yet? What did you say his name was? Repetitive Steve?” Asks Office Bigman.
“He is Competitive Steve and he's an asshole just like you.” Replies John. The two other officers start slapping there knees and laughing manically.
“That is a good one!” Says Shortkok.
“It looks like you need to take 'a good two' because your full of shit.” John replies.
“That's our Trippercop! Ha-ha!” Bigman has to grab a table to stop from falling over he laughing so hard. John didn't know if they were mocking him or actually found him funny,but he didn't care. He tried his best not to spend much time in the station because there is a risk that he might shoot someone if he did, which they would also probably find hilarious too.
Walking out the door into the cool morning air he started feeling tingly and a chill crept down his spine. He started feeling calmer and less agitated. He thought he would start the day with a nice drive. As he tooled along the country roads in his cruiser he began thinking about impermanence. “Have I always been here? No, surly I must have been somewhere before being here, but I can't remember. I can't stay here forever. Can I? No, nothing last forever. What a terrible thing that would be if nothing ever changes.” As he crests over a hill he looks into his rear view mirror. He sees in it a round green mountain covered in trees. Round as an umbrella covered in foliage. “That's a nice mountain.” He approaches a slight curve in the road. “But just like all things, except for maybe me, your view is impermanent and will be leaving my mirror now. Goodbye.” After rounding the curve John glances up to see what new view lay behind him. It was the still the same view of the mountain. Confused he turns his head and looks out the back of the window of the car. The mountain was behind him. He slams the brakes and flips a U-turn. Anxiously he looks at the mirror to find the mountain still there. “I need some confirmation on this.” He slams the gas and charges down the road until he gets behind a yellow station wagon. He hits his sirens and lights and proceeds to pull the motorist over. Before exiting his car he checks the mirror. Yep, still there. He quickly jumps out of his car, spins around, and pulls out his gun aiming directly at the mountain. He then hears a voice behind him.
“Was I speeding officer?” John spins around to see an elderly woman with her head peaking out the station wagon's window.
He walks up to the woman and asks, “Has that mountain always been there?” As he points at it with with his gun. A mixture of panic and befuddlement pans the woman's face as she looks back to where he is pointing.
“I believe so...”
“Mam, not interested in beliefs. I need to know has that mountain always been there.”
“Well... of course it has. Mountains don't move.”
“Are you familiar with plate tectonics!”
“No officer.”
“Of course not. But I digress. You answered my question. Carry on citizen.” Leaving the bewildered driver behind John starts his car and immediately begins doing burnout donuts in the middle of the highway. Spinning round and round he keeps a keen eye on the rear view mirror to see if he could shake the mountain out of sight. It remained. “I must go to this mountain. And it appears I must go backwards to get where I am going.”
He turns on the siren again, hits the lights, throws the Crown Vic in reverse and punches the throttle. The car barreling backwards at excessive speeds catches fellow motorist unawares as they swerve off the road and into oncoming traffic to avoid a collision. As he passes by them John catches glances of their terrified faces. Faces caught in the stare of uncertain death. “Haunting” he thinks to himself. The mountain grows closer until he can start making out the definition of trees. He sees one tree at the base of the mountain and it becomes the focus of his intention. He keeps heading towards it closer and closer until he smashes the back of the patrol car into it.
Unshaken John exits the vehicle with its siren still wailing, lights still flashing, and he proceeds to walk up the mountain. While walking beneath the trees, beams of light shine through the dark shadows created by the canopy above. The light and dark begin to mix and create images, shapes, forms that create an uneasy feeling in John. He pulls out his revolver and cautiously proceeds.
“You killed me Officer.” A voice rings out. John shoots wildly into the trees.
“Who is that!”
“You shot me officer Trip. Why did you do that?” The voice speaks again. Suddenly the light and shadow forms become faces. They look like the faces motorist that he had just passed by in his backwards pursuit, but he recognizes them from somewhere else too, like he had met them before but could not remember where. “Why did you do that?”
“Because that what I do! I'm a cop! I shoot people when they deserve it!” The echo of these words rings through the empty forest as the faces dissipate. John holsters his gun and continues up the mountain. When he reaches the summit he sees that there is a clearing from the trees where the shadows do not fall. In the middle of this clearing is a bench which he takes a seat upon. He hangs his head down and begins to reflect. “We are born and we die. That is impermanence. Some kill others are killed. That is haunting. Does a ghost have an expiration date? If one becomes a ghost does that mean you never really die? But to have death requires birth and what if a man has no birth or recollection of a beginning?”
“What you think your fucking immortal or something?” A voice asks. John looks up to see a fit, young, white man in running apparel, who looks like he just came from a frat house. He is running in place and chewing gum obnoxiously.
“Fuck off Steve. I'm not in the mood.”
“Oh, no! Is little Johnny in a bad mood? Come on dontcha wanna shoot me?” He then sucker punches John square in the face causing his nose to bleed. John draws his gun as quick as he can and unloads the remainder of his clip, but as usual the athletic Steve dodges all the bullets. John leaps up to tackle him, but Steve quickly kicks him in the groin and John falls to the ground in pain.
“Haven't you figured this out you will never get rid of me!” Laughs Steve.
“What do you want!”
“To piss you off of course silly!”
“Well you have achieved that. Now kindly fuck off!”
“Maybe I misspoke.” Steve retorts, “No, 'piss off' is far to impermanent.... perhaps haunted is the correct word.” An evil grin spreads across his face as he says this.
“Are you real?” John asks. Steve lets out a loud belly laugh before kicking John in the gut while he lie on the ground.
“Does that answer your question?”
“It could be psychosomatic. I don't even know how I got here.” Steve then squats over John, grabs his collar, and yanks his face close to his.
“That is why I am here you son of a bitch. Because you're here. And I am never going let you forget who you are. You might think you can forget it, leave it all behind you and move on, but not as long as I'm here asshole.”
“You know where I came from?” John asks.
“No, I don't. But I know who you are. You feel me?”
“What?” John asks as Steve then headbutts him in the face.
“Do you feel me!”
“Goddammit yes!” Grabbing his bloody face.
“Good. Let me tell you a little quote then from one of my favorite authors then. I know you will relate to it. 'Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel. Every one sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are.'”
“What am I then?”
“If I tell you that then you win. I can't let that happen!” Steve laughs, puts in a pair of earbuds, and gives John one final kick to the abdomen before jogging off into the trees. The sound of a helicopter could be heard overhead and when John looked up he could see it was coming down for a landing in clearing where he lay. When it landed he could see it was the precinct's chopper and Shortkok and Bigman were inside.
“John!” Shortkok yells from the helicopter, “We saw your car wrecked and we came looking for you! What are you doing out here you nut! Did you go get yourself in trouble again?” Both the men began laughing. “Come on over here and we will take your crazy ass home!” John picks himself of the ground, limps over to them, and reluctantly gets inside.
As he gets in Bigman turns to him, “How many times have we come and got you now?” He laughs, “Your lucky we love you so much.” By this time it was getting dark, so rather than taking him back the station John asked if they could just drop him off in the parking lot of the liquor store by his house, which they were more than happy oblige. At the store he gets a bottle of Wild Turkey and walks back to his apartment. As he passes through the parking his portly neighbor sees him.
“Is that you John? Isn't it a nice night?”
“I fucking hate you.”
“Good to see you too honey! Sweet dreams!”

Sea Bears (Pt. 1)

Sea Bears

Standing at the bridge of the ship, Afee looks out from under his orange beanie and could see the seas getting rough. His face seems to have a wild look about it at this moment, yet a sense of tiredness is there too, as the many years out at sea has made his black beard begin to streak grey and his skin become abrasive. He stares impatiently at the bow where an Albatross sits motionlessly, despite the tossing of the ship through the waves, and upon the bird’s head sits a metal helmet-like structure which covers most of its skull. He can see circuitry throughout the metal and the right eye appears to be covered by a red lens. Afee looks due east at the horizon as the ship steams towards the coast of California. After years of island hopping throughout the Pacific this was the second closest he had come to the continent since he, the crew, and everybody else had fled the mainland.
His first mate Andre McDoo then enters the bridge. “Sir, are you sure you want to do this?” Says the young crewman addressing the captain.
Afee replies, “Do you want to remain wandering these seas forever?”
“No Sir, But… do you think we are ready? Do you think that we will be able to make this plan work?” McDoo asks nervously. His large eyes weighing with concern upon his round face.
“We will be no better prepared in the future than we are now. Is the crew ready?”
“Yes Sir, they are…very afraid, but ready. Not many remember the last encounter at the Farallon’s.”
Afee’s gaze holds steady upon Andre and he asks, “What about the helicopter? Is it ready?”
“Yes, it is ready too.”

The last encounter at the Farallon Islands was the closest the crew had been to the continents since the exodus all those many years ago. Afee and the crew did not know as much then, where the boundaries were, and how the rules now worked. They wanted to see how close they could get to the coast. To see if maybe they could come back home one day. The weather was the very opposite of this day with calm sees and bright skies. The plan that day was to put a beacon on the islands, and track whatever activity may be occurring there for a few months, before hopefully pressing on into the bay. Then just as today an Albatross with a metal head also sat on the bow, but as soon as the ship neared the Farallon’s the Albatross suddenly bolted into the sky, and began to make broad sweeping circles above the ship while hundreds of feet in the air. Although the crew found this odd, they pressed onto shore and were able to plant the beacon without any incident.
It was when the ship pulled back out into the open ocean they were attacked for the first time. It started with crows coming and landing everywhere on the ship. Just as the Albatross they had the metal head cappings and they did not attack the crew. They just seemed to be observing and communicating amongst themselves. At the time Andre Mcdoo was asleep in his bunk down below deck when a huge metal blade suddenly came slicing through the wall near him. It measured at lest four feet tall and cut a huge gouge through the hull of the ship. A few men were cut in half by this giant blade as it tore through, and immediately following it rushed in the ice-cold seawater, which began to fill the lower holds of the ship. Andre was able to swim up through the drowning crew that flailed in the water, to the ceiling hatch above, and hoist himself up to the next deck where there was still air. Stumbling up through the flooding ship decks he found Afee at the bridge struggling to control the wheel and keep the ship on course. Looking out the cabin’s windows Mcdoo could see the crew having their faces pecked off by a flock of attacking sea birds.
He screamed at Afee, “What hit us just now! It tore open the hull! We are taking water!”
“Orca!” Afee replied.
“What!?”
“A pod of Orca! All of them with metal from nose to tail and all down their backs! We must have taken a dorsal blade to the hull.” He replied with a strange calmness about him.
While every person thought for sure they were doomed at that moment, the pod for some reason did not strike again, and once the ship had fled a few miles west the birds backed off as well. Though it had taken water the ship was able to limp on with it’s half drowned, bird maimed crew, and find repairs in the Hawaiian Archipelago. After the encounter, the ship stayed far out at sea only calling port in island harbors and floating way-stations. Other people had also made it out from the mainland alive after the Takeover, and they too set out among the Pacific Islands in their boats like Afee did. Over time, trade and a community of seafarers developed among the waves. Afee was eventually able to repair his ship as well as acquire more men, harpoons, and some helpful technology. He felt prepared to go back now. He now knew how far he could get to the coast, and the Farallon Island beacon has never stopped transmitting.

The plan this time is to stop the Albatross before it flies into the air. A cannon loaded with a net is carefully hidden on the deck and aimed directly at the bird. Also, harpoons are at the ready just in case the Orca pod returns. And of course all men are either below deck or have armor on to protect them from sea birds. The ship’s hull has been reinforced and at top speed they hope to reach land before their presence is known. If attacked however, they feel confident they can adequately defend themselves.
Just as predicted when the ship approaches the Farallon Islands the Albatross begins to leap into the air, but an ultra-precise motion detector that is monitoring the bird picks up this movement and instantly launches the net out of the cannon. The Albatross is ensnared and falls to the ship’s deck, frantically trying to escape the net as the crew rushes up to it. Andre is among them and yells to the crew, “Do not kill it! We want the Albatross alive!” As soon as the crew surrounds the bird and its escape is impossible, a deafening high-pitch noise chirps out into the air, causing the crew to drop to the ground with their ears throbbing in pain. Immediately after this noise the metal structure on the birds head explodes, killing the Albatross, and completely destroying the mechanism.
As his hearing begins to return, McDoo faintly hears the captain’s voice over the loudspeaker. “To the harpoon stations! The pod is in visual sight! To your stations!” As the crew scramble to their positions, McDoo runs up to the bridge. He finds Captain Afee transfixed upon the ship’s sonar screen. “They’re not coming near us Andre.”
“What to you mean Sir?”
Without looking up from the sonar Afee replies, “They know we are here, but are not approaching. Just surrounding us it would seem.”
“They must know wee are armed. Why else would they not attack like last time.?” Says Andre. Afee does not answer him. Though scared and unsure, Andre tries to act confident as he says, “Perhaps the Albatross could not transmit so far away? Or maybe it needs to be in the air to transmit? Like last time. Maybe they knew… but too late. Maybe they are unprepared this time.”
“Let us hope that is the case.” Afee replies as his eyes slip to the horizon. Upon the choppy waves he spots a noticeable rough patch of water where the whitecaps are particularly intense. As he watches as it seems to be getting larger, but the turbulent water is not growing larger at all - it is getting closer. Afee looks to his sonar. No objects below water are being pinged. He checks his radar. No air objects in that location. Soon both Captain Afee and Andre Mcdoo are staring at this approaching patch of torn water, and they can start to see what appear to be large animals riding atop this water. They actually appear to be running on it. Afee reaches for a pair of binoculars and upon viewing the maelstrom can see clearly that they are bears. From this distance the bears appear to be made of metal, as if they were robots, and they are running on the water at a very high rate of speed. As they approach the crew tries in vain to shoot the harpoons at them, but are unable to strike the fast approaching sea bears. Within minutes they are at the ship and begin to leap out of the water up onto the deck, quickly running down and mauling any crew in sight. With robotic exoskeletons they are easily able to rip off the reinforced doors and proceed to tear their way down through the lower decks.
Andre’s face is stricken with panic and body frozen in fear, as he stares unmoving out the window at the terrifying sight unfolding before him. He is awakened from his trance only by the increasing pings emanating from the sonar. The Orca pod is approaching. “Captain we got to get out of here!” Andre screams as he spins around towards the captain, “we got to get to the…”
As a bear approaches the bridge door McDoo sees that the captain is gone. Inches from him a steel claw punctures through the door into the bridge’s cabin. As the bear begins to pry the door off its hinges, Andre can hear the vicious snarling of the animal, he can hear the agonizing screams of the dying crew being ripped apart, and he can he the slow “chop-chop-chop” of helicopter blades.

*****

Peering through the small square window in the lab’s door Claudia looks upon a completely white room with a white table in its center. Upon the table is a black box. Behind her Alexander sets up a video camera aimed at the door and says, “its recording.”
Claudia turns around in a lab coat, with lab goggles on, her dark hair pulled back behind her head, and addresses the camera: “This will be our third up close encounter with a crow. After a period of remote observation, we will again attempt to study the neural linked cranial computational device, and if possible remove it from the crow. We are hoping in this approach that heavy sedation of the animal will allow closer observation.”
She then places a set of ear muffs on, turns around, and enters the lab. Once Claudia is inside the small room the camera switches to a ceiling mounted view looking down at the table. She approaches the box and opens it. A sedated crow lies inside. She reaches for a small telescopic video camera on the table and turns in on. At first the camera is out of focus, but as it gets closer to the box, the screen starts to reveal, in detail, the crow’s cybernetic head.
“CHIRP! POP!” A high frequency noise followed by the crow’s head exploding.
“Shit! Not again!” Claudia yells.
Alexander turns off the cameras and opens the lab room door. “We are getting better at catching them. We will catch more.”
“It seems more likely that they will catch us first.”
“We will catch so many we could actually start eating them.”
“You would eat crow?” She asks.
“I guess, they are the only animals we can catch up here anyway.”
Claudia steps out of the lab, which is a small cube that resides inside a large city flat. Beside the lab constructed in the center of the room, the concrete space of the flat is sparsely furnished and has vast stores of rations lining the walls. It sits on the 23rd floor of an abandoned skyscraper in deserted downtown San Francisco. The building’s first five floors have collapsed which made entry from the ground all but impossible for the larger predators.
Sitting on the edge of a mattress lying on the ground Claudia asks, “You know, I think I know the answer to this question, but for some reason I still ask myself it anyway. How did we let this happen? How did we let it get so out of control?”
Leaning back in a chair Alexander moves his blonde hair away from his eyes, “People created an intelligence based on human morals. Of course it would be awful to everyone!” He laughs.
“Be serious. How did we let it get so out of our control?”
Sitting up he replies, “Humans crated something they didn’t understand. Artificial Intelligence understood us more than we did. Would you want to be controlled by someone dumber than you?”
“No, and that is why I do not listen to you!” Alexander laughs. They get up to begin preparing dinner when they hear: “chop-chop-chop.”
“Is that a helicopter? How does a person get a helicopter?” Alexander confusedly asks.
“Its landing on the roof.” Claudia exclaims, “Come on!” They quickly grab their weapons and run to the roof of the building. Carefully they open the roof door and see a helicopter landed next to the solar array. A man is slumped back in the pilot seat and the passenger seat appears empty. “Put your hands up!” Claudia shouts, but the man does not move. Slowly, they approach the helicopter. Coming closer to the man they see he is unconscious and wounded . After securing the area and shutting down the helicopter’s engines, they take the man inside their flat to treat him for what looks like a head injury.
The man, now with a large bandage around his shaggy black hair, lies on the floor asleep while Claudia and Alexander eat their dinner. “Who do you think he is?” Claudia asks.
“I don’t know. First person we see since the Takeover and he comes to us in a helicopter. What are the chances of that!” Alexander excitedly replies.
“I wonder where he came from? Do you think he came from inland? Could that be possible?”
“I doubt it. Probably came out from the sea looking at his condition. But why come back to land? He must have a death wish or something.”
“Did you search him?”
“Well people don’t really carry driver’s licenses these days any more. And the bots shut down the internet, so what good would touching him all over do?”
“So, you didn’t search him”
“Yes.” Alexander smirks. A frustrated Claudia gets up and walks over to search the unconscious man. She kneels down and as she reaches inside the man’s pocket his eyes open. With a slight smile on his face the man says, “Well, you don’t need to touch me all over, I’ll tell you who I am.”
With a startled shout Claudia stands up and proclaims, “I am sorry! We thought you were asleep and you are the first person we have ever… seen in a long time.”
The man props himself up slightly on his elbows, “I am sure glad to see you and happy to find that there are still people on land.”
“We may be the only ones.” Alexander replies walking up next to Claudia. “Why did you come here? Can you take us to a ship?”
The man looks wearily at Alexander and says, “Those are big questions with long answers and I am afraid I am too tired to explain all that right now.”
“But you said you would tell me your who you are. Didn‘t you?” Claudia asks him curtly.
The man’s smile fades and his eyes cast downward before meeting hers, “I am Philstrom Afee.”
“The eco-terrorist!?” Claudia says with surprise..
“Wait, that Earth Liberation guy who said all humans should die so animals could live? Or something like that!” Shouts Alexander.
“Yes” replies Afee, “I was that person and I said those things. But, I hope you are happy to see me, there are so few of us now, and you must believe that I am really happy to see you.” Alexander and Claudia stand silently looking at him, with a mix of skepticism and fear, unsure what to say to this known man. Afee’s smile returns to his bearded face and he continues, “Besides you want me here.“
“Why is that?” She asks.
“Because, I just may be the guy who knows how things got so horribly out of control. Would you be interested in knowing that?”