Ice Cold Read online

  Ice also learned that many young girls and women were snatched late at night and never seen again. One of the men verbally wondered if they were being taken off, made to be hookers in a larger town, slave trade, or something. Nobody paid attention except for the parents, and it didn’t look like anybody else cared.

  What he didn’t learn until the next day was that the entire city had a weird disease that came only from that village. Scientists couldn’t recognize the bacteria or virus and there was nothing as of yet that would cure the diseased person. Apparently the disease took a year or two to kill the victim. The only place in common was either the water, the food, or both. At that point in time he knew why there could not be any survivors, and the entire village had to be destroyed. It took him a little while but not long in figuring out what he knew he had to do.

  The sewage system ran from a point at the bottom of a mountain on the very east side of town, and as an irrigation system flowed slightly downhill throughout the village, and then out near where he saw the donkey path up the side of the far mountain. The sewage ditches were quite small and usually only about a foot wide or less. Only one place was it allowed to be bigger and that was on the south side of the down town area where the upper ditches met with lower ditches.

  Ice drove out of town very early the next morning and about ten minutes down the road he spotted a turn off, went down the small path and found a little hut in a clearing, hidden by trees. It didn’t look like anybody lived there or even been there for years. On his way back he found another small area where he could drive off and turn into a thicket of small trees and hide whatever vehicle he would acquire.

  His next goal was to find someone who would be willing to part with a small truck for a week, or out right sell it. Ice would agree the owner could have it back when he would leave town later in the week. He found an older guy who had a small flatbed looking thing that was made out of wood mostly. It had a metal frame with a motor, steering and brakes. The bed could only hold six 55 gallon drums, maybe only four depending on the weight. The truck also had a little lift on it big enough to raise a big drum if need be. The little guy was real proud of his little truck but when Ice offered him five-hundred dollars to use it for a week, the little guy was ecstatic. The average income in that area for a family of four was about six hundred annually.

  The first thing Ice did was to find a gas station. It didn’t take long to learn there was only one and he went there to fill his truck. He learned there was two pumps, but a whole back lot full of fifty-five gallon drums full of gasoline. Everybody needed gas for their vehicles and even more for their equipment. There were several places that ran generators twenty-four hours a day and used a lot of gas. It was nothing to see several little trucks hauling a barrel or two somewhere in town, or out into the mountains from time to time. Most people had a two barrel set up they used for gas. One full and one being used. When one emptied the second one would be hooked up and the empty one taken in and get filled. They filled their vehicles and machinery as they wanted it. There was a good size construction company back up in the mountain cutting trees for export and they used a lot of gas too.

  Ice went into the little shack and found out the owner was the man sitting there at the desk. He could speak English and Ice found out he could buy a barrel of gas for a hundred and twenty-five dollars. He was told sometimes the price went up to a hundred and fifty if there was a shortage. Ice told him he was bringing in a business that needed lots of gas and the guy didn’t even ask about it. Ice purchased five-thousand dollars worth and the man had one of the workers use a forklift to put forty barrels off to the side, and a dozen partially empty barrels for another three-hundred dollars. Ice talked to the guy a little more and found out he could have the barrels delivered anywhere in town for another five hundred dollars. He already knew there was an empty lot not too far from where the the creek flowed into the sewage system; starting on the high side of the valley. He gave him the extra money and he agreed to have all the barrels there by night fall.

  The little Mexican guy got greedy and asked Ice if he needed any more gas any place else. He replied, “Well sure, I would like it to be possible that my friends can get gas at any time, day or night. Could you put a barrel up, on a stand with a hose attached with an on and off lever? I would like one on every corner in the down town area, several around both industrial areas, and a bunch around any businesses, government building, and then on every other corner throughout town.”

  “Sure, I can do that my friend,” the little Mexican said. “But it will cost you quite a bit if you want it done right away?”

  “Okay,” Ice replied. “I’ll give you ten-thousand dollars for the extra request if you can get it done by midnight.”

  The greedy little Mexican smiled and said, “Okay gringo, it will be done. Nice doing business with you and hope we can do it again some time. Maybe set up a delivery system where these barrels can be replaced when needed”

  “Well of course we can. Let’s see how this goes and when we need them filled again we can figure out a profitable way both of us can get something out of it.”Ice left smiling, as did the Mexican, for entirely different reasons. Both saying under there breath in each of their languages, “Dumb ass!”

  When driving around town some more he found a lot of outside propane tanks. By the way they were located he could see that many of the citizens must use it for heating or maybe cooking. About ten minutes later he saw a truck with the propane gas cylinders on the back. He followed the truck to the opposite side of town, down a path that ended behind a bunch of trees, at the bottom of a mountain. When looking closer he could see hundreds of cylinders that looked new and at least that many piled in a junk pile further back.

  Ice drove to the small building that was located near a very, very large cyclinder. There were two trucks that had big cylinders mounted on the bed of the truck. Ice figured the trucks were probably used to go out and fill some of the larger tanks around the commercial looking buildings.

  Ice had to bang on the door three or four times before he got somebody’s attention. When the man opened the door Ice could hear loud hip-hop music playing. The man turned the disk player down in volume so they could hear each other. Ice was glad when he learned the man did know some English. He explained to the man that he needed several dozen canisters delivered to different places around town. The guy looked like he was questioning what was asked of him.

  Finally, Ice just came out with it and told the man he was a new business man in town and wanted some full cylinders delivered as a gift to the businesses to show his good intentions. He had found several places in town that might need some extra motivation to blow up. After pointing out a dozen places to the man Ice asked how much and to have the cylinders delivered before night fall. The man was hesitant and said he would be working for an hour more. Ice offered him five hundred dollars above the cost for him to put in a little extra time for him. The man was more than happy to go along with it. If nothing else, everybody in town could use extra money and hundreds of dollars put any body into the upper class of the town.

  An hour after he had come up with his plan the day before he had called a line in the U.S. using his satellite phone. He wanted the goods delivered to a stand of trees not too far from the Pacific Ocean. A place he checked out and couldn’t find any evidence that any people frequented the place. He left the information on a recorder that he had phoned to and also told them he wanted to be picked up at the same location the following morning.

  A few hours latter Ice drove to the spot he had told the person who would be listening to his message. As usual he found a large wooden box hidden in the trees and could definitely see where a helicopter had set down. He pried the box open and found everything he had ordered. There was an AK-47 with a dozen clips already filled, some plastic explosives, twenty-five heavy cardboard boxes, a .45 with five clips filled, and a electronic device he knew that all he had to do was unlock it and hit the switch and al
l the small boxes would go off in a really big way. He also found an entire box of dynamite for an added extra for better fire works. He piled it all in his little truck and front seat and put a tarp over the load in the back.

  Ice went to the bar later after it started getting dark. Chucky and Zero were already there as were one of the business men from the night before and another guy he didn’t know. After sitting awhile the new guy to the group asked Ice. “Who are you and what are you?” The man was very serious and he reminded Ice of a customs officer in Korea he met once.

  “Well, my name is Johann and I am here scouting this town to start a business,” Ice told him.

  “What kind of business and where are you from,” the man continued his questions.

  “Well, not that it is none of your business but my headquarters are in the Netherlands and we are here for several reasons. We operate a delivery system throughout the world. The other thing we do is help small towns like this by supplying water, gas, or whatever else the community might need. So far we’ve seen to it that there is plenty of gasoline available to your citizens. Kind of a good will thing,” Ice exclaimed seriously.

  “You seem to be a very suspicious man Johann. I don’t trust you. I can tell you this though; I have many acres of marijuana growing and it is very good stuff and very much wanted in many, many places. Are you a DEA officer, or do you plan on growing your own marijuana?

  Ice smiled back showing he was not only surprised but glad. “Well, since you’re honest I will be too. We were thinking about growing the fine hemp you have around here because the weather and ground are perfect for growing. However, if you have a successful crop going we do not what to be in competition with you. But if you need help getting the stuff out of the country and into other places in the world I’m your man.”

  The man looked angry at Ice. “Well, I know from television that law enforcement personnel cannot taste the product or they would be fired. Since I know this is true, here, take this pipe and smoke some with me.”

  “Ya know, I think you’re right. Those guys can’t smoke or take it into their system in any way. I heard too that if they did they then couldn’t be trusted by any judge or jury.” Ice took the small pipe from the ornery man and put his hand out for a lighter.

  “You first, then I will hit it, and we can then share until the bowl is burnt out. Okay?” the man asked.

  Ice fired the pipe up drawing in carefully, and holding the smoke in and returned the pipe. After he exhaled he said to the man, “That is some good shit man, give me some more.”

  The man took his own hit and returned the pipe and lighter to him. After each took three good hits off the pipe they were both stoned.

  “Wow dude, I like that stuff,” Ice said. “Anything special or added to it” he asked with a big comical smile.

  “Nope, just home grown with love and a lot of attention. We have a couple guys here that have perfected how to mix different plants, and what buds to pinch off and such.” Both men were kind of giggling at this point. Chucky and Zero both hit what was left in the pipe and all of them were yaking it up like four old women at a church bazaar. Ice kind of figured who the two men were that farmed the crop. They were the two veterans that sat across from him and had their own shit eating grins in place.

  “We were afraid you were a fed or someone who was going to put us out of business. When you did that thing with the gas tanks we were really suspicious,” the man said that had been there the night before.

  Chucky piped in, “sounds like an American just like us, and we really couldn’t tell anything about you. Zero ran a check on you with his computer thing he’s got going and all he could find out was that you were an American business man who worked for a place up there in Holland.”

  The men talked and giggled and the guy who started asking the questions filled the bowl again and they passed it around. Ice would later admit he had a really good time and kind of wished he could do it again. Of course, that was impossible.

  The men called it a night at about eleven that evening. It was a week night and all three of them needed to get up in the morning and start harvesting one section of their crop. It relieved Ice when he learned through their gabbing that the section was one farthest away and located at the bottom of one of the mountains.

  When leaving the bar he picked up a six pack of cold Coke and a jug of water. The jug had printed on it that it came from the mountains of Switzerland. Ice knew it didn’t but at least it came out of the tap from some place in the United States.

  After munching half of a bag of pretzels and drinking at least a quart of water he started getting off his marijuana jag. When getting into his truck about midnight it was very quiet. He could hear a radio in a couple places but nobody was in sight. He started at the far end of the valley, in the section the others would be working the next morning. If Ice was slow they would get theirs while at work and if he was on time or ahead of time they would go up with the town and everything else.

  For the marijuana crop he just ran a line of gasoline and gun powder to a point nearest the closest shanty. He then did the some to the other sections of crops. He worked fast and efficiently. When he found a propane tank he opened the valve so only a little gas escaped, but enough to empty it by day break if not just before. With the gasoline he open the tanks and just let them flow. Within minutes he could start seeing gasoline in the sewage ditches slowly moving along with the slant of the land. There were several large buildings he put the explosive plastic on the main gas line and then slightly opened the propane tanks it that area too.

  In the downtown area Ice pushed three propane tanks next to the building that housed the central main building for the town and added extra plastic to a few areas. He finally made it to the point of where the water running off the mountain caused the irrigation type sewage system. There he opened the valves of all the gasoline containers that he had had stored there. They were at a spot where the gas would naturally flow down to the intake. Once he got that far he was glad it was a small town and everybody slept at night. It was very possible that if a car engine started any place in town it might blow everything up including him. Ice took a big wad of plastic and smashed it into a wooden pole not far from where all the gasoline was starting to pour out.

  Making sure all seemed good he ran to a point where he could climb up and over a large hill and then down to the ocean about a mile away from the top of the hill. He couldn’t see the large wad of plastic he’d left on the pole but that didn’t matter. He climbed the hill which was quite strenuous at times and when he got to the top he could see the sun just coming up over the horizon. He could plainly see the wad of plastic he had left behind too.

  Ice took the AK-47 off his shoulder and sited in on the wad of plastic. He waited for about five minutes before seeing movement starting in the town. He sighted in and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the plastic and it was like it was a grenade shot from a tank. The fireworks were splendid from where he could watch and he knew he’d better get down the other side far enough so he wouldn’t get hurt if things really went boom. Within three minutes the gasoline lit up at the starting point. The fire seemed to go just like falling dominoes throughout the entire town. Wherever a sewage system come from a building or house it blew up. Once the fire started it ignited the low lying gases that had filled the entire valley. Within a short minute the entire town was on fire, as were all the marijuana crops. He knew his three friends were in there someplace, but for their own sake Ice hoped they were already dead. Ice watched long enough so that he was sure all was destroyed. For awhile there were lots of screams and wales coming from the dieing citizens, but it didn’t take long for that to stop. Everybody had been breathing propane so many of their bodies had burnt from the inside out.

  Ice turned down the hill and slowly ran to the ocean, taking his time. If nothing else he knew if his helicopter was anywhere near that they would have heard and seen the explosion. As he turned on the path leading t
o the beach he saw the chopper settle down right in his path, with the side door slamming open. He jumped in and the helicopter turned, staying low, and headed to southern California. Neither the pilot or co-pilot said anything to him. He found a bag with clean cloths and another bag with stuff he could clean himself off with. He always thought of it as a bath in a box. The clothes he put on were slacks, a pair of moccasins, and beach shirt.

  The helicopter ride ended at a small airport just outside of San Diego. His employer had already left a rental car there waiting for him. When getting out of the helicopter the pilot got his attention, gave him a set of keys and told him the dark green Chevy Impala was his to use. While on the helicopter Ice had thrown anything he had left over into the ocean. He hated to see the .45 and rifle go, but it was just one of those things. He got into the car and started it up, turning the air conditioning on. He opened the glove box and found the note that there usually was. In short the note told him to take his time and drive back to Ohio, take a day or two after that and take care his assignment there that he still had weeks to accomplish.

  He drove as far as Yuma, and realized he was totally beat. Even catching some shut eye on the flight back he was just exhausted as the excitement wore off. He found a decent motel, pulled in and got a room around the back where he hoped it would be quiet. He took a shower before getting into the bed. In the car Ice had found another .45 under the seat with a couple clips along with a shoulder rig. When he laid down the gun it was laying in front of his belly with a sheet slightly covering him. He fell almost immediately asleep and slept well for the first time in a week.

  When getting up well rested at about 9AM the following morning he showered again and put on the same clothes he had on the day before. He drove his car a block down the street and found a nice place to have breakfast. When he was done he drove down the same street and found a Walmart. He hated Walmart but knew he could get everything he needed under one roof. He picked up all the toiletries he would need, a couple sports pants and two more shirts; along with some underwear and socks. He didn’t like the shoes he had so bought a comfortable pair of them too.