FORTRESS: A Post Apocalyptic-Dystopian EMP Attack Thriller (Reckoning Book 3)

by Lee West

  A kind-looking older woman sat under the easily identifiable Red Cross symbol. She flipped mindlessly through an old magazine as she waited for something to do.

  “Hi. I’m looking to find my family and was told to come here. Can you help me?”

  The woman lifted her head slowly to look at him. She appeared to be surprised that someone came to her table, as though it did not occur to her that someone would seek her assistance.

  “Sure thing, sweetheart. What’s the family name?” she said with a thick Southern drawl.

  “Jensen. I’m looking for my wife and kids.”

  “Alright, give me a minute.” She adjusted her obese frame on the creaking chair beneath her as she flipped open a thick handwritten logbook. “Here we are. I’ve got it. What’s the first name?”

  “Sharon. Sharon is my wife. You need the names of our kids too?”

  “Nope. Just the missus.”

  Using a ruler, she moved down the list slowly, checking each name along the way. Then she repeated the process, going back over the same list of names in her dense logbook. Finally, she adjusted her glasses and looked up at him. “I don’t have a Sharon Jensen. They haven’t come through.”

  “Really? Are you sure?”

  “Positive. I checked twice. There’s no Sharon Jensen.”

  “Maybe they went to a different intake facility? Is it possible that you don’t have them because they entered from a different location?”

  “I’m supposed to have a complete list. But let’s check anyway. I’ll run her name into the computer and see what happens. The digital system is supposed to be the most accurate anyway.”

  “Then why use the paper log?”

  “We don’t want to lose track of anyone. If the Reds hit us again, these computers will become useless. I prefer paper anyway. It’s easier on the old eyes.”

  The woman typed a few things into the computer. When she finished her work, she looked at Mike and said, “Nope. Sorry. No Sharon Jensen listed.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t understand? They weren’t home when I got there. It was like they vanished. They would’ve had to come through one of the intake facilities.”

  “I’m sure, sweetheart. She’s not in the system. Sorry. Maybe they decided to hide out with family? We’ve had a few of those.”

  “Sharon wouldn’t have done that. We have small children. Could you just check one more time? It’s Jensen. J-E-N—”

  “Oh no. Did you say J-E-N? Oh goodness, where’s my mind. I looked under G. Let’s try this again.”

  Mike waited with balled fists as he struggled to remain composed. He could hardly believe the woman’s mistake. Frustration swelled in him to a near boiling point. He felt like screaming at the woman but knew that would not help the situation.

  “You said Sharon’s the first name?”

  “Yes. Sharon Jensen. J-E-N—”

  “No need to respell it. I’ve found her. Your home is out in Lawrence?”

  “Yes.”

  “She and two minor children were processed in the very beginning of this mess. Then they left the camp for home. That was a while ago, nearly a month.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes. This time I’m absolutely sure. I’d bet they’re still at home. That area has never seen any action, so there’s no reason they would have left again.”

  “Thanks!”

  Mike took off from the desk, joyfully knowing that his family remained safe at home. He could be reunited with them as soon as he could get a ride back to Lawrence. If the old woman had her timing right, they would have returned home just as Mike and the others had left the house for the city. If he had only stayed in place for a day or so, they would never have been separated. The realization that Brett and Nancy’s paranoia had led to his decision to leave their home stung him.

  After walking through the maze of tents, he finally found the one assigned to him. The tent city seemed oddly vacant for such a large-scale operation. He could only conclude that most people had returned home after processing.

  Just as quickly as his mind soared with relief over the news of his family, his mind switched gears into extreme worry for Frank. Relief over Sharon and the kids’ situation mingled with concern for his friend Frank. Frank was like family to the Jensens. He spent most holidays with them and had been named the godfather for their children. He couldn’t just leave Frank at the university to be killed. Frank would never do that to him and he knew it. On the other hand, Frank would want him to take care of Sharon and the kids. This he also knew.

  Mike lay on his cot, staring at the ceiling. Throughout the entire conflict, he had been obsessed with finding his family. Now that he knew their location and could be with them, he found himself hesitating for Frank’s sake.

  — 34 —

  Once inside their small tent, Joe closed the opening as best he could for privacy. The tents had been tightly spaced in order to maximize the use of space at the base, resulting in a complete lack of privacy for those occupying the shelters. People in the surrounding tents would be able to hear every word of their conversations. Mindful of this reality, Joe held his index finger to his mouth and looked at Meg. Meg nodded her head slowly, acknowledging that she understood the issue.

  They sat side by side on the edge of one of the cots, holding hands. Joe leaned into her, placing his lips as close to her ear as possible. In a low whisper he said, “I need to rescue the others. I can’t just let them get killed.”

  “You heard what Riley said, the whole mountain is going to be leveled. There’s nothing we can do to help them. I’m upset about it too, but I won’t lose you to save them. No way. You need to stay with me. We can return to our apartment and go back to a somewhat normal life,” she whispered.

  “I hear what you’re saying, but I have to at least try to help them. My guess is that the troops don’t know about the tunnels. If I’m attached to a ground unit that’s going to the general area where the university is, then I can break away, go into the tunnels, and warn them.”

  “Are you nuts? You’ll either get killed or be caught as a traitor. Neither is a good option. Besides, that’s assuming you even get to the tunnels. They could place you in a ground unit that isn’t anywhere near the university. Then what? You’re shipped west to fight over there?”

  “It’ll be fine. You’ll see. I’ll get in, warn them, and then will be back as quickly as possible.”

  “What if they won’t leave and you end up actually warning the enemy of the impending attack? Did you think of that? Brett, Nancy, Marvin and Ed, all of them were one more paranoid than another. It won’t work.”

  “Like I said, I need to at least try. I can’t just sit back and allow them to be killed. They saved us from being on the cruise ship. I feel like we owe them.”

  “I’m not sure they saved us from the cruise ship. For all we know, that ship would’ve been fine. I don’t like the whole thing. Besides, I need you with me. What’ll I do? Sit here and wait for you?”

  “Yes. Just stay put. I think you’re safer here than at home. Besides, once I get back, we can go home together. You’ll see. It’ll be fine.”

  “You always say things will be fine.”

  “They usually are.”

  Joe wrapped his arms around her and held her for a moment. He tried not to allow her objections to shake his resolve to help their friends. The plan would work. He just needed to get onto one of the trucks heading to the university.

  “You guys decent?” asked Mike from outside the tent.

  Breaking away from their embrace, Joe said, “Sure are. Come in, Mike.”

  Once Mike moved into the tiny tent, the space seemed to shrink almost immediately.

  “What’s up? Did you find your family?” asked Meg.

  “Sure did! They’re at home safe and sound. From what I can tell, they probably returned to our house within a day or so after we left. I think we might’ve just missed them.”

  “Really? Geez. I’m sorry to
hear that. This entire time you’ve been apart, worrying about them unnecessarily,” said Joe.

  “You see? Once again, I’m not so sure Brett and Nancy actually helped us,” said Meg.

  “I agree. I think we needed to leave the ship, but we could’ve stayed at my house for the duration and been totally fine. The Red Cross woman said those areas are safe and always have been,” said Mike.

  “Can you get a ride back to them?” asked Meg.

  “I haven’t looked into it. I’m going with you, Joe. I need to make sure Frank is okay. I’d never forgive myself if I did nothing while knowing he’ll be killed in the crossfire.”

  “Oh no. Not another one,” said Meg, rolling her eyes.

  Joe got up quickly from the cot and signaled for Mike to sit on the floor in front of them. Again he held his index finger over his mouth to try to warn Mike not to speak loudly.

  Mike sat and then whispered, “My family is home safe and sound. I want to see them more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. But I won’t be able to live with myself if Frank and the others get killed. Frank is my best friend and the godfather of our children. I have to try to save him.”

  “Meg and I were talking about my plan when you came in. My assumption is that they probably don’t know about the tunnels. We can use that to our advantage. All we need is to get close to the university, slide into one of the tunnels, and warn them.”

  “I agree, but how do we do it? And what if they won’t listen?” said Mike.

  “Frank will probably listen. You tested clean for Wondra, and Frank has been with you for months on the cruise ship. That makes me think he’s probably clean as well,” said Joe.

  “Unless being at the university has caused him to become drugged,” said Meg.

  “Nothing happened to the three of us and we were there with him. So I think Joe’s right, he’s probably clean as well,” said Mike.

  “Originally I thought I needed to volunteer to fight. However, Meg brought up a good point that they could send me west or to an entirely different operating theater,” said Joe.

  “That would be the worst-case scenario,” said Mike.

  “Exactly. That’s why I think we need to get onto a transport unit. We could simply ride out to the university area and then jump off the back of the truck. It’ll be easy,” said Joe.

  “How do we get on the right truck? There’s vehicles coming and going from this place all day long. Any one of them could be the one we need.”

  “I can do it,” said Meg.

  Joe and Mike turned their heads to Meg at nearly the same moment.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Joe.

  “I’ll go to the supply shed and try to figure out where the trucks are going. People don’t suspect me of doing anything wrong. For once, I can use that to my advantage. An innocent face has to be worth more to me than getting out of a few speeding tickets.”

  “A few? You’ve successfully talked your way out of more speeding tickets than anyone I know!” Joe laughed.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment! I like the idea of sneaking onto campus rather than volunteering to fight. You guys are right, we need to at least try to save them,” said Meg.

  “It’s a good plan. Also, if we’re caught, we could claim we had no idea of the truck’s destination. That could work,” said Mike thoughtfully.

  “Okay. Just be careful at the supply shed. We can’t afford to alert anyone of our intentions,” said Joe, turning to Meg.

  “I’m always careful. We back in a few!”

  Meg kissed Joe and then left the tent.

  — 35 —

  Ed visited the university’s kitchen to get an assessment of their food situation. The head chef assured him that even with the influx of people, their food supply would continue to serve them for at least a few months. The resistance fighters that came to the campus seemed to get the word out that they needed to regroup at the university. As a result, many more of them showed up seeking shelter. By Ed’s informal count, at least thirty extra people now stayed in the tunnels.

  Many of the new people had connections to those already on campus. At first it seemed odd to Ed that anyone on campus would be associated with the resistance fighters. Then he realized the obvious connection: the people who knew each other were all Chinese. Many of the Chinese students settled in the local area after graduation. Some acquired research positions at the campus, while others applied for and received work visas from local tech companies. Of course they would know one another. It made perfect sense to Ed.

  A group of students and newly arrived resistance fighters sat at one of the tables in the cafeteria, their heads together in a huddle as a serious-looking conversation ensued. Ed decided to join them. Maybe they needed help with something.

  “Hey, guys! Everything all right over here? Did you get enough to eat?”

  The Chinese people immediately stopped talking and glared at him in near unison.

  “We’re fine, Mr. Ed, no need to worry about us,” said one of the students.

  “They fed us really well! We’ll be rested and fed just in time for the fight!” said a resistance fighter.

  One of the women in the group gave the fighter a stern look, which puzzled Ed.

  “Alright. I’m glad to hear it. I’ve got to get to the rest of my rounds. Just let me know if you need anything. We’re sure glad you guys are here. We’ve been worried about the soldiers attacking the campus. At least now we can fight back,” said Ed.

  “You’d better believe we’ll fight back!” said the resistance fighter.

  Again Ed noticed the woman once again turning to the fighter and giving him a stern look. Shaking his head as he walked away, he knew he would never fully understand the Chinese culture.

  He descended the dark stairway into the tunnels. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the gloom. Switching on his flashlight, he followed the light beam to the tunnel doors.

  Ed spotted Nancy, Brett and Marvin sitting on one of the couches in the communal area of the tunnels. They were talking to one of the resistance fighters, a Chinese woman with a strong Mandarin accent.

  “Hey, Ed! Why don’t you join us? We were just talking with Yee about the soldiers quartered at our house,” said Brett.

  “Yee said they didn’t know about the large concentration of soldiers in the area and that we should attack them. It might help to push the government back out of the region. What do you think?” asked Nancy.

  “Do we have the numbers and ability to safely do that?” asked Ed.

  “We have superior numbers and military power. There are more troops coming as we speak. Once they arrive, we can make attack,” said Yee in broken English.

  “I’m no military man, so I need to trust your opinion on this issue. If you think that’s best, then I say go for it. I’d love to clean the area of troops. It would be nice to beat them back a little so that we aren’t surrounded,” said Ed.

  Yee’s lips pulled back in a slight smile, exposing crooked, discolored teeth. She nodded her head and said, “Excellent. I couldn’t agree more.”

  — 36 —

  Using the map Joe gave her, Meg made her way through the tent city, looking for the supply shed. The Supply Corps coordinated the movement of supporting materials to the frontline troops. They would know when trucks left for the hot zones.

  After making several wrong turns, she finally found the supply building. Nothing in their appearance distinguished one building from another. All of the structures had been constructed from the same sand-colored corrugated metal material. Large signs and numbers painted on each building’s façade provided the only identifying features. The architectural cohesiveness of the base made it nearly impossible to quickly move around unless a person understood its general layout.

  Meg took a deep breath and let it out slowly in an effort to calm herself down before entering the building. Her hands shook from the fear of getting busted. Riley had said that if she got caught aidi
ng the enemy, they would be court-martialed for treason. For some reason, the thought of getting into legal trouble caused her far more anxiety than the very real possibility of getting killed by the enemy.

  She approached the large jumble of desks hastily arranged near the entrance of the building. The supply department would likely get their requests through the military intranet, so they had no reason for the building to have a front-facing customer service station like the intake shed that had processed them. Instead, the people sitting at their desks pounded away at keyboards, made notations on clipboards, and talked to each other very infrequently. She hesitated, unsure where to begin or whom she should talk to.

  “You need something?” said a young man.

  She hadn’t seen the man heading in her direction. He must have been in a different part of the building when she entered.

  “I’m trying to get to medical, but think I came into the wrong building. The base is such a confusing maze!” Meg smiled.

  She flipped her hair and tilted her head down while maintaining eye contact with the man. Experience told her that most men would give her what she wanted if she looked at them in a certain way with her large, thickly lashed eyes.

  “Medical? Oh brother, you’re way off. Let me help you.”

  He moved closer to her. She extended the base map to him and said, “That would be amazing. I really appreciate it.”

  He took the map and turned it until they could both read it. Instead of looking at the map from a distance, Meg moved in a little closer to the man, brushing her bare arm against his.

  “All you need to do is go back here, make a right, then a quick left, and you’ll find medical.”

  “Oh my gosh! How silly of me, I must’ve walked right past it!” She laughed at her mistake as she touched his shoulder gently. “Thanks so much! You’re a lifesaver.”

  “Anytime.”

  Meg sensed that the man grappled for something else to say that would keep her in his presence. She decided to get right down to the real reason for her visit.