The banks of the Sacramento River were lined with corpses. Many citizens gathered to look for their missing family members and acquaintances, but the bodies were badly damaged and some were carbonized, making it difficult to find them.
Pat Garrett saw Vice President Theodore Roosevelt and approached him.
"Mr. Vice President, I'm glad you're okay."
"Me too," Theodore Roosevelt nodded. "Thanks to Miss Craig for my safety."
Beside him was Miss Craig. Her urban fashion clothes were dirty and charred in spots, and her hair was frizzy.
"Take a look."
Theodore Roosevelt points to a corpse. His face was charred and unrecognizable, but he was wearing the uniform of the Argo crew, with the eagle Insignia.
"Is this Captain Harris?"
"Yes," Roosevelt replied with an anguished look on his face.
Pat Garrett made a cross. He noticed a bullet mark on the shoulder of the corpse and asked, "Who shot him?"
"Roberts and others."
"No way!"
Theodore Roosevelt told the full story of what happened in Sacramento while Pat Garrett was on scouting.
Meanwhile, Pat Garrett also reported on the status of the railroad tracks to San Francisco.
"Roberts should be stuck in Stockton," said Pat Garrett. "They will clear the rubble and repair the railroad tracks, but it will take a long time."
"That's good for us. We can work out a recapture strategy in the meantime."
Frank 'Mad Bomber' Zuckerman and Orpheus Granger arrive at the riverbed, joined by Bonnie Monaghan and Lou Blackman, who were on their own.
"I hear sheriff organizes the posse," said Mad Bomber. "I hear they're going after Carter's Raiders, and there's about 100 people gathered right now."
"Hundreds isn't enough," muttered Miss Craig. "They will be destroyed."
"Pat, you guys should join the posse," said Theodore Roosevelt. "Meanwhile, I will return to Colfax and have a meeting with the military. We will have to replenish our troops and arms. It will take more than a week to prepare. You guys should be careful that the posse guys don't go crazy. Avoid head-on combat as much as possible. The objective is to capture John Carter and rescue Helen, or Dejah Thoris. "
"Roger that."
YOU ARE READING
The Argo Goes West
Science FictionIn 1900, creatures from Greek myth began to invade America, where the frontier line had disappeared. Theodore Roosevelt builds the Argo, a battle train and heads to the west where monsters await!
