Radioactive Omnibus- A Prepper Survival Story (19 page)

Jim stepped over the bloody bodies as flies swarmed over them. Matt’s Aunt and Uncle’s house was completely wrecked. He searched for any signs of life; any signs that his niece was still alive, but found nothing. Chase’s men were thorough. They killed the aunt and uncle, the guards, even the pet birds.

After searching the bedroom Twink exited the hallway and rejoined the group.

“The house is clean. No bugs or tracers.”

Jim knew Chase must have had people in Locke’s unit. Despite how much Jim disliked Locke, he couldn’t believe he was gone. He also admitted how much harder all of this was going to be without him.

“What’s the call, Jim?” Brett asked.

“The last intel we had were the chemical weapons that Brenner was making at his plant in San Diego. We need to get to that plant and shut it down. Twink, get us everything you can on the plant and countermeasures for VX gas.”

“On it,” Twink replied, pulling out his laptop.

“We’ll need to go in alone,” Jim said. “We don’t know who else Brenner has in his pocket. When we go back to command we keep it vague, understand?”

Everyone nodded.

“Brett, do you know anyone you trust that could get us access to Locke’s secure files?” Jim asked.

Brett nodded and said he might know a guy who could help.

Jim started to connect the dots. The attacks on the cities four months ago were just the first step. Chase wanted the President to order the troops home. He wanted all of them conveniently grouped together so he could take them out with one strike. It all started in San Diego and it was going to end in San Diego.

“Looks like we’re going home,” Coyle said.

“Yeah,” Jim replied. “Home.”

Then Jim heard something coming from down the hallway. His hand went to his side arm. At first he thought he’d imagined it, but then it came again and he sprinted towards the sound. There was some clawing behind a door and when Jim opened it Tigs walked out of the closet and looked up at him. He scooped her up and she purred against his chest.

“Sonofabitch. That damn thing really does have nine lives,” Coyle shouted down the hall.

***

When the plane touched down on the coast in San Diego and Samantha stepped outside onto the tarmac, she shielded her eyes from the sun. One of Chase’s guards rushed her toward the car. She looked around to see if anyone was around, but they must have landed in a private airfield because there wasn’t a soul in sight.

Samantha still had her hands tied when Chase’s guard threw her into the back seat of a Rolls Royce. Chase entered from the opposite side.

“Key,” he said and stuck out his hand. He unlocked the cuffs and tossed them up front with his guards. He rolled up the privacy partition and the car started forward.

“Now, I want you to remember something while you’re my guest. Anything you do to me, I’m going to do to your daughter.”

Samantha rubbed her wrists and nodded.

“I’m glad we understand each other then,” he said.

“He’ll come,” Samantha said.

“You know what most people lack in their understanding of planning?” Chase asked. “Commitment. In general most people know exactly what they want to do and they know how to do it, but once something becomes difficult they lose their way. A small bump in the road causes everything to fall off the wagon. Then those people cry and wail about loss and how hard life is. I’ve run into men like your brother before. Little bumps along the way. I will admit I didn’t expect Jim to have as much of an impact as he did over the last few months though. His little ‘missions’ forced me to rearrange three years of work, but even still it wasn’t a setback that I couldn’t handle.”

Samantha remained quiet. She kept her eyes focused on the passing buildings outside the car window. She was tired of fighting. She was tired of feeling unsafe. She was tired of being frightened for her daughter. Whatever double life Matt had led was now eroding away the love that she had for him. Ten years were washing away from her mind the further the car drove.

“I told him not to marry you,” Chase said out of the blue.

“He thought it would be good for appearances. Marrying a police woman, an army reservist and the daughter of a decorated military officer would allow him to fly below the radar.”

“So, why did you tell him not to?” she asked. “It sounds like it was going to help you a great deal.”

“Yes,” he replied, “But I always knew it was going to end badly for you.”

He stared straight ahead as Samantha finally turned to look at him.

“Why are you doing all of this?” she asked.

“The world we live in has become bloated. There are too many people clawing for scraps. I’m pressing the reset button, but in order for me to do that, I have to get rid of those that would oppose me. Right now there are over a quarter million troops stationed in San Diego. That, combined with a few other large groups in Texas and Washington D.C., I’ll be able to cripple the largest military power in the world. Once that’s done I’ll have my political connections start passing amendments to restructure the military and I’ll be the one selecting those put into power. After that it won’t be America’s military. It will be mine. From there I’ll be able to pick off the rest of the weak and this country will be twice as strong it was before.”

The car finally arrived at the plant and entered through the front security gates. One of the guards that was riding in Samantha and Chase’s car pulled her out of the back seat when the vehicle finally stopped.

“I want to see my daughter,” Samantha demanded.

“Of course,” Chase replied.

The plant was massive. Samantha gazed around at the machines diligently working, mixing different chemical agents and packaging them into pallets to be transported out of the facility.

“VX gas,” Chase explained when he saw Samantha looking around the plant. “It’s a nerve gas. It breaks down a person’s muscle control, causing convulsions and paralysis. Nasty stuff.”

Chase brought Samantha up to the executive offices where Annie was being kept. Without hesitation, Samantha ran to her daughter.

“Mommy!” Annie screamed.

Samantha scooped Annie up into her arms, holding her tightly.

“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” she asked.

“I’m got scared and tried to hide, but they found me,” Annie said.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you too, Mommy,” Annie whispered back.

Chase nodded over to one of his guards and he peeled Annie off of her mother. Samantha screamed and Annie started to cry. The guard pulled out a knife and put it to Annie’s throat. Chase’s henchman kept the blade close. Just one slip and she’d be gone.

“See?” Chase asked. “I can do anything I want.”

“Please,” said Samantha.

She dropped to her knees.

“Please, don’t hurt her.”

Her voice was shaking. Her face was distorted with pain, fear, and hopelessness as she watched helplessly.

Chase stepped in between the guard holding her daughter and Samantha.

“You have nothing to offer me. Absolutely nothing. I’m the one who has what you want. If you want to see it again, you’ll do everything I ask.”

Samantha’s whole body started to convulse as she put her face in her hands. Her eyes were bloodshot and snot dribbled down her nose and chin when she finally looked up at Chase. She couldn’t speak anymore. She just nodded.

“Good girl,” Chase said and then ordered another guard to come and take Samantha away. When Samantha was dragged out of the room, the last image she saw was the guard’s knife to Annie’s throat.

Chase brought Samantha to his office.

“Get your phone out,” he said.

Samantha fumbled in her pockets to pull out the phone Jim had given her the day of Matt’s funeral.

“Call your brother,” said Chase.

***

Jim sat in the office where Locke’s replacement had told him to wait. He’d been sitting there by himself for almost twenty minutes. Twenty wasted minutes he could be out doing something, but instead he had to request time to meet with the acting general to get the supplies approved for his mission.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Jim,” Paul said, shuffling through the door.

Jim rose at attention. “General,” he stated saluting his newly appointed superior.

“At ease, Jim.”

“I need my supplies request approved for a mission, sir,” said Jim.

Paul leaned back in his chair and looked Jim up and down.

“This isn’t a traditional request, Jim. You’re asking for resources without letting the military know what you’re using them for and asking us to look the other way when you take… Well, whatever it is you’re planning on taking.”

Paul tilted his head to the side slightly and shrugged.

“I don’t think this is something I can approve. Not in this climate we’re in right now.”

Jim didn’t have anywhere else to go. He was about to go into a fight with more unknowns than he’d like to have in a mission and the three other men that he trusted were the only ones coming with him. Jim was good at what he did, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to do this without the General’s resources.

“I didn’t like Locke,” Jim blurted out.

Paul raised his eyebrows. Paul’s predecessor wasn’t even in the ground yet and it wasn’t typical for a soldier to openly give their opinion of a general in front of a superior officer; let alone one that had just been killed in combat.

“He was manipulative. He didn’t have the slightest problem using somebody for the greater good. I know because that’s what he did to me,” Jim continued. “But the one thing I
can
say about Locke is that he got things done. He put himself out there in a way that I’ve never seen an officer of his stature do before. That’s all I’m asking from you, General. Help me get the job done.”

The General drew in a slight breath. He stayed silent as Jim kept his eyes focused on him, drilling into him with a stare only a man with as much to lose as Jim could.

“Locke trusted you,” the General finally answered and he drummed his fingers on his desk. He rose, walking to a filing cabinet parallel to where they sat.

“He liked you too,” the General went on as he pulled open one of the drawers, thumbing through the files inside.

“He always appreciated a soldier that didn’t give a shit about the chain of command, like you do.

The General removed a slip of paper and returned to his desk. He sat down, pulling a pen from his desk and jotted down notes on the paper.

“I had a look at your file before I came in here,” he said. “I’ve never seen a soldier have as many misconduct forms and still have more commendations than a dozen soldiers have in their career. It was impressive.”

Jim’s eyes lowered to the form on the desk, trying to make out what it was. He was hoping it wasn’t a court marshal form or discharge papers. It didn’t really matter if he was officially in the military or not after this conversation. He was going to get his sister and niece back no matter what.

As Jim’s hand reached for the paper, the General kept hold of it for a moment. Jim looked up at him while the piece of paper connected them.