Escape From Moscow Part II
Indy leans out the window and looks back behind the truck, all he can see is armored tanks thundering down all around them, ?Dad what ever you do, don?t stop!?
The street lined crowds collectively gasp as the lowly garbage truck joins the procession. Stalin now spots this abomination meandering through the ranks of his mighty army. The generals at his side appear as if nothing is wrong, and hope that Stalin won?t notice for great fear of invoking his wrath. But Stalin?s blood is beginning to boil as he starts pounding the podium in front of him. Stalin yells down to an officer mounted on horseback twenty feet below at street level. The order is clear, ?Arrest those imbeciles.?
The mounted officer gallops out into the parade and into the columns of slow moving tanks. He quickly catches the garbage truck as Henry drives in complete sync with the tanks. Henry and Indy have a stoic look about them, as if perfectly natural to be part of the ceremony. The officer screams to Henry and motions him out of the parade. Henry cups his hand to his ear as if he can?t hear a word the officer is saying. At that, the officer un-holsters his side arm and raises it toward Henry. ?Dad, step on it!? Indy stomps down on Henry?s foot causing the truck to lurch forward in a great burst of speed. Henry is now weaving in and out of the tanks with the rider in hot pursuit firing his automatic pistol; One tank commander in seeing this, gives the order and the forward machine guns are brought to bear onto the garbage truck. A short burst of hot lead sends garbage and sludge spraying out from the back of the truck. ?Dad you better lose these guys!? Indy grabs the steering wheel and spins it loose from Henry?s grip just as more shots are fired. The truck squeals around in a fast turn nearly dumping its cargo. The officer on horse momentarily looses sight of the truck, which is now traveling the opposite direction and head first into the columns of tanks. The rider quickly pursues the truck, which is now on fire and choking the air with a plume of thick black smoke. Henry yells out ?We?ve been hit!? and is frantically steering to avoid oncoming tanks. More tanks open fire with their forward machine guns but can?t seem to hit the truck which is now driving in big circles around them. Instead the bullets are bouncing off other tanks and a few are heard whizzing over Stalin?s head; he ducks for cover. As Henry circles, he and Indy desperately look for a way out of the parade route. The only thing working to their advantage is the huge volume of smoke filling the air.
They seem to have reached the trailing end of the tank column when Henry hits the brakes hard and they skid to a stop.
As far as one can see, hundreds of Russian soldiers now stand in formation directly in front of them. The moment of standoff is short lived when a sergeant blows his whistle and the troupes scramble to load their rifles. Indy leans out the truck door to see if they would have better chances going back through the smoke. Just then the horse gallops to a halt and the officer points his sidearm at Indy. Indy jumps from the truck as the bullet hits the open door shattering the glass. Indy storms the rider and pulls him hard to the ground. The troupes start to engage but choking smoke is blowing in their faces. Indy mounts the horse and yells, ?Dad, get out of there.?
Henry grinds the shifter into reverse and guns it. The soldiers fire haphazardly into the smoke.
The tanks have all ground to a halt because of poor visibility and the crowds growing unease. Police are scrambling to hold the spectator?s lines. Henry in reverse goes flying by a parked tank and the opened passenger door is ripped off.
In parallel and a couple of rows over, Indy is galloping slightly ahead of the slower moving garbage truck still traveling in reverse. Indy overtakes the last line of tanks and contemplates his next obstacle, a slow moving line of fifteen motorcycles side by side each with a tall flagpole and a red Soviet flag furrowing behind. Indy trots up to the motorcycles intent on passing through, but each time he tries, the riders swerve to cut his path and the flags are spooking the horse. Indy looks back to see Henry?s burning garbage truck emerge from the smoke filled columns of tanks. The bed of the truck is engulfed in flames now and Henry has no clue where he is headed. The smug motorcycle rider smirks back at Indy just in time to see the flaming mass hurtling from behind. The riders quickly part to make way for the truck, but do it so abruptly that their front wheels turn and collide with the next motorcycle over. The two motorcycles wreck and their awkward flagpoles cause a domino effect toppling every last rider. The flaming heap whizzes past Indy and breaches the line of motorcycles.
Henry tries to spin the truck around but at this point he?s nothing more than a flaming comet. The crowd leaps out of the way as Henry buries the burning heap into some bleachers. The sudden jolt sends all the burning debris into the stands, which quickly catches on fire and spreads to a building sized portrait of Stalin.
People disperse into the streets in total pandemonium. Henry flees the burning wreck and disappears into the moving crowd. Indy gallops past and tries to turn back but the fleeing crowds are pushing and spooking the horse. Some of the armed troupes have just emerged through the tank columns and are making their way over the motorcycle heap.
Indy on horseback is a clear target and a handful of soldiers have spotted him. Indy spins the horse around to bolt and looks forward just in time to steer clear of a parked mobile missile launcher. He gallops up between the column of launchers continuing to look back over his shoulder to where Henry was last seen, ?Come on Dad, come on.? Just then a couple of warning shots crack above Indy?s head, he looks forward and his path through the column of missile launchers is blocked by soldiers brandishing machine guns. Indy slows and looks behind to see troupes closing in from the rear. He?s completely boxed. Indy guides the horse along side the missile launcher and climbs up the side. The troupes close in. Indy leaps over two missiles mounted to the top of the launch vehicle and then jumps to the platform of another vehicle parked along side; then he hops to the next. It?s a cat and mouse chase when one soldier in frustration fires a short burst toward Indy that peppers the side of a missile. Liquid oxygen steams out as the adjacent soldiers run for cover for fear of an explosion. A comrade slaps the ?trigger happy? soldier across the back of his head and the order goes out, ?NO SHOOTING!?
Indy is now trapped atop one of the missile launchers as troupes climb up from all sides. Indy punches one in the jaw and the soldier tumbles down the side flailing his arms and grasps a red handle to break his fail. Suddenly the missile platform lurches upward. Indy loses his footing and falls off the back. A couple of soldiers break his fall and Indy hobbles around the side of the vehicle. The soldier he punched seconds early is lying on the ground and grabs Indy?s legs as he moves by. The soldier yells out in Russian, ?I got him!? Indy struggles as another soldier runs up and proceeds to rifle butt Indy in the face. Indy ducks and the butt of the rifle whizzes by his face and cracks into the missile launch control panel. Just then a loud blast ignites the air and missile #1 goes screaming off the mobile launcher. The soldiers immediately behind the vehicle are toasted. Two hundred yards away and across the Red Square the onion shaped dome spire of Saint Basil Cathedral is blown to smithereens. The remaining onlookers gasp in horror as burning debris rains down. The soldier responsible for the missile firing is frozen motionless. Indy grabs the automatic rifle from his hand and runs away. He climbs the service ladder on another vehicle in hopes of spotting Henry in the crowd. People are everywhere in total chaos. Just then Henry yells out, ?Junior? and Indy spots a lone motorcycle making its way up through the crowd but too far away to reach, no worries, just then a large Soviet Flag hoisted over the heads of at least fifty students crosses by as they are swept away by the crowd. Indy makes his way across the top of another abandoned vehicle and steps out unto the moving flag as it cruises by. He crosses the floating carpet of red and reaches the other side just as Henry?s commandeered motorcycle rolls by. Indy leaps down and saddles the back of the bike. ?Junior, nice of you to drop in.? The two glide through the sea of people and funnel into an adjacent street, which leads directly to the river. They ditch the bike and proceed out onto a low causeway just a few feet above a passing coal barge. They jump and the slow moving mountain of coal breaks their fall. They roll and slide and are completely covered in black soot, all the better to blend in as they slowly sail west.
[Edited by gear01 on 01-22-2004 at 12:00 am]