But they’re kids—and you’re a parent.
He felt responsible for their safety on some basic level, but rationally, he couldn’t justify the risk. Ryan and Chloe were his sole responsibility right now. He had to let these kids look out for themselves.
“That’s it. I’ll do a radio check at the top of the hour. Then I’m gone.”
Chapter 2
EVENT +46:52
Harvard Yard
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Ed dropped his backpack on the wet grass and collapsed against a tree trunk, staring at Hollis Hall’s shadowy facade. The steady hum of the battalion’s generator pulled at his eyelids. He’d have to sleep soon. There was no way to avoid it. He just needed to hang on for another eight minutes to catch Alex’s first broadcast on the stolen Motorola. He wished they could talk, but Alex explained why it had to be a one-way broadcast.
All transmissions sent from one of the battalion’s handheld radios triggered an encryption protocol, even if Ed used one of several “uncovered” channels, and could be monitored by the communications platoon. If they discovered an unauthorized conversation emanating from one of the battalion Motorolas, they would block the radio and trace the source.
Alex assured Ed that he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that search. Ed would only transmit if the situation deteriorated enough to affect Alex’s timeline. Alex agreed to keep his radio in “sleep mode,” which scanned for channel activity on their preset frequency, alerting him if Ed transmitted for longer than three seconds.
Just thinking about Alex’s transmission energized him. By now, Alex should have reached Ryan’s dorm room. Everything depended on what he found there. Ryan was supposed to travel to Chloe’s apartment in the event of an emergency, where they’d wait for their parents. He desperately needed to hear that Ryan wasn’t in his room. It meant that Chloe was safe. He knew the discovery would be tough on Alex, but it represented the best chance that both of them were safe.
Ed unzipped the top of his pack and dug into one of the internal compartments for the hidden Motorola. He turned it on and inserted one of the earbuds, hearing the typical back and forth military chatter he’d been treated to every time he scanned the channels. He had no idea what they were saying most of the time; the Marine lingo was as foreign to him as Chinese. SITREPS. POSREPS. SPOTREPS. None of it made sense. Line Alpha. Line Bravo. All nonsense. He wasn’t sure why they bothered to use encrypted radios. Nobody could figure this shit out.
All he knew at this point was that “Shadow” referred to the Harvard Yard security detachment, “Striker” meant any of the units in the city, and “Raider” was the group along the river. He learned most of this by eavesdropping in the battalion headquarters tent. Sergeant Walker hadn’t been totally useless. He leaned his head against the harsh tree bark and pressed the scan button, jumping to the next encrypted channel. The orange LED read “Shadow.”
“Shadow Actual, this is Shadow 3. SPOTREP. I have four possible hostiles moving south across the Cambridge Street overpass, headed in our direction. Request permission to engage, over.”
Cambridge Street? His head came off the tree.
“Shadow 3, can you confirm weapons?”
“Affirmative. Rifles. They’re halfway across. We’re gonna lose them behind Holworthy.”
Holworthy Hall?
“Stand by, Shadow 3.”
“This is Shadow 5! We have six—contact! I say again, contact! Taking automatic fire from the southern end of the old yard!”
Rapid, sustained gunfire erupted in the distance, followed by an overhead snap.
“What the…?” Ed muttered, rolling on his stomach.
A hiss passed to his right.
“Oh shit,” he said and pressed his body flat against the ground.
“All Shadow stations. You are cleared to engage.”
Flashes filled the darkness between Hollis and Stoughton Halls, followed by the staccato hammering of the M240G machine gun. Red tracers stitched outward, floating deep into the campus. The marines between Hollis and Harvard Halls fired their rifles at the same time, barely beating the 240 deployed between Stoughton and Phillips Brooks Hall. The thunderous gunfire masked the frantic reports streaming through Ed’s radio earpiece. The Marine perimeter was under attack from all sides! The shooting slackened several seconds later, and he could hear the different perimeter stations reporting.
“Shadow 5 reports three, possibly four enemy kills. Hostiles have stopped firing.”
“Shadow 5, this is Shadow Actual. Copy report. Continue to engage any hostiles in the open.”
“Shadow 3 reports two enemy kills on the Cambridge Street overpass. One enemy wounded was carried out of sight behind Holworthy.”
“Copy, Shadow 3. Scan the windows and watch the corners. All units cease fire and pass your SITREP. I say again. All units cease fire and pass your SITREP. Shadow Actual, out.”
The firing died out just as suddenly as it had started, yielding to the occasional distant gunshot. Ed pulled the radio out of his backpack and shifted to the “broadcast” preset channel programmed by Alex. He pressed the transmit button, fairly confident that an all-out attack on Lieutenant Colonel Grady’s command tent qualified as an event that bumped up the timeline. Alex had overestimated the time it might take for the city to implode. Ed couldn’t imagine they had more than twelve hours until the marines had no choice but to withdraw.
“Durham Three-Zero, this is Durham Three-Two. Come in, over.”
Chapter 3
EVENT +46:55
Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts
Alex felt one of his chest pouches vibrate. Checking his watch, he muttered a few curses. Ed couldn’t wait five minutes? He really hoped the marines were too busy to notice an unauthorized transmission go out over one of their encrypted Motorolas. It wouldn’t take Lieutenant Colonel Grady more than a few seconds to figure out who had swiped the radio. He opened the pouch and removed the radio, switching it out of “sleep mode” and inserting the earbud. Maybe it wasn’t Ed.
“Station sending on this channel, please identify,” said Alex.
“Durham Three-Two!”
“This is Durham Three-Zero. First transmission scheduled for zero-five hundred (0500). Stand by for five minutes, please.”
“I told you he was Special Forces,” said one of the students. “Parent, my ass.”
Alex dismissed the comment and turned up the volume. “No. Negative. SPOTREP. Whatever the fuck you people say!” said Ed.
Something was wrong.
“Take a deep breath, Durham Three-Two, and send your report.”
“The headquarters was just attacked from all sides. I had bullets snapping right over my head,” hissed Ed over the radio.
“Can you estimate the number of hostiles?” said Alex.
“Every gun on the perimeter started shooting at something. Multiple groups. One of the SPOTREPs mentioned a group of four with rifles. It’s all quiet now.”
“Understand. You’re still in the safest place possible. Stick close to the marines and cease transmitting. I did not find either of the kids at Boston University. It looks like Ryan bugged out right after the shockwave hit. I’m moving to the second rendezvous location. Will report again at 0600 or upon arrival, whichever comes first. Switch to our backup broadcast channel. Durham Three-Zero, out.”
He put the radio back into the pouch.
“Is something wrong?” said the student leader.
“Everything is wrong.”
A powerful flashlight illuminated the walls of the hallway to the right of the lobby.
“Who’s watching the stairwell door?” Alex asked quietly, shifting his stance to face the shaking light.
“Which one?” said Piper.
“The one I used,” he whispered.
“I don’t know,” she whispered back.
“Shit. Move this way and don’t make a sound,” he hissed.
Alex snatched the red cheml
ight from the floor and pocketed it, corralling the group toward the hallway opposite the new light source.
“Get inside any room on this side, and lock the door. Let’s go. Where’s the other stairwell?” he whispered, aiming his rifle across the lobby.
“Down there. There’s a door on the left side, past the lounge,” said Piper, pointing down the long, murky passage.
“Does the lounge connect on both sides?”
“Yes. Same with the stairwell.”
Students scrambled through the darkness, pouring into the rooms and shutting the doors. Alex made a mental map of the dormitory floor. Two long hallways ran parallel to each other, connected by the elevator lobby, lounge and second stairwell vestibule. Three points of access to this hallway and only one viable escape route.
“So, what’s the plan?” she said, peeking around the corner with him.
“Get into a room, and don’t open the door,” he said, crouching. “I’m going for the second stairwell.”
“You’re ditching us?”
“If this is the same group that followed me from the river, you’ll be glad I left,” said Alex.
“What are we supposed to tell them?”
“Tell them I searched one of the rooms and took off, or tell them everything. It doesn’t matter. Gotta go,” he said and dashed across the hallway.
He reached the other side as a concentrated beam of light spanned the elevator lobby.
“Freeze! Step into the hallway with your hands above your head!”
Alex stopped long enough to see that the beams of light had settled on Piper, who covered her eyes with one hand and raised the other.
“Both hands!”
Alex flipped his night vision goggles down and sprinted away from the lobby, toward the opposite end of the hallway. He passed a door labeled “WOMEN,” followed by an unmarked door, which he pushed inward. Several comfortable-looking chairs and a long couch faced a flat-screen television mounted to the wall. Two round tables with chairs sat beyond the couch. Wrong door. He started to back into the hallway when a light appeared under the stairwell door. Alex ducked inside the lounge and shut the door quickly and quietly. Crouched in the pitch darkness, he drew his suppressed pistol and remained absolutely still.
“You got anything!” someone yelled outside the door.
He couldn’t hear the reply over the high-pitched screaming. His grip on the pistol tightened. The shrieking intensified, followed by crying.
“Open your doors and get into the hallway!” another voice boomed.
Alex crossed the room, careful not to bump any of the furniture, and listened at the far door. Hearing nothing, he cracked it open and stared directly ahead at the wall, interpreting the light. The green image of the cinderblock wall shimmered but didn’t flare, giving him the confidence to open the door and verify that the hallway was empty. The hallway near the elevator lobby pulsed bright green, almost washed out by the powerful flashlights. He heard the men pounding on the students’ doors and yelling threats.
He edged toward the lobby, knowing damn well he should leave. He couldn’t skip out now, not after dropping a dangerous enemy right at their doorstep. He couldn’t let the new world order play out on these kids tonight. They had a whole lifetime ahead of them to deal with the newest form of Darwinism that emerged from this disaster. Alex continued, walking heel to toe, constantly checking behind him. No plan materialized as he edged closer to the corner. The sharp sound of multiple slaps caused Alex to grit his teeth.
“I know he was here! I’m not blind!” said an angry male voice. “None of us saw him leave the building!”
“He was only here for a few minutes. He was looking for something in that room. I don’t know if he found it,” Piper whimpered.
“You better not be lying to me,” he grunted. “Get those kids out of their rooms! Shoot the door open if you have to!”
Alex instinctively backed up and crouched, expecting one of them to run across the lobby, but no one came. The pounding intensified in the other hallway, followed by heated shouting. This was his last chance before the hallways filled with students. He holstered the pistol and gripped his rifle, disengaging the safety. Finishing one more scan of the dim hallway behind him, he flipped his NVGs out of the way. A quick peek around the corner gave him hope. Two men dressed in woodland camouflage and tactical vests stood in the lobby with Piper, one of them holding her against the wall by her long blonde hair. The second man shined a flashlight in her face with one hand and gripped her neck with the other.
“He didn’t leave. My people came up both stairwells,” spat the man holding her hair.
“He left over fifteen minutes ago!” she yelled.
Alex emerged and triggered the rifle flashlight. The 150-lumen beam blinded them, and they instinctively turned their faces away from the searing light. Alex fired one bullet at each of their heads, dropping both men to the floor. He deactivated the light and grabbed Piper, pulling her into the hallway before the rest of the militia group could investigate.
“Gerry? Ted? What’s going—”
“They’re dead!” screamed another voice.
“What the fuck are you talking—shit!”
Alex leaned out and aimed at the rightmost corner, hoping to catch the last voice in the open. He centered the red tritium dot on a partially obscured torso and fired twice, yielding an agonized screech.
“Get to the student lounge, quick,” he whispered to Piper. “Don’t open the door.”
He followed her at half-speed, keeping his rifle trained at the corner they had just abandoned, until he bumped into her.
“We’re at the lounge,” she whispered.
Alex lowered his NVGs and gently pushed the door inward, checking the room for surprises.
“It’s clear. I need you to follow the wall to your immediate left and keep going until you hit the corner. You’ll stay there until I come back for you. Understood?”
“It’s really dark in here,” she said.
“You have a clear path to the corner if you hug the wall. How many of them did you see?” said Alex.
“Four.”
“Minus three. See you in a few,” he said.
With the door shut, he lifted the NVGs for a second. He couldn’t risk using them in the hallway once he left this room. The NVGs gave him a considerable advantage in the darkness, but a beam of light directed at the device’s sensitive lens would blind him. Switching to his pistol, he carefully opened the door. The hallway was pitch black. Of course. He lowered the NVGs and studied the green image. The hallway was empty. He closed the door and paused, thinking about his next move. If the guy had been smart enough to turn off the lights, Alex couldn’t count on him to make a rookie mistake. He’d have to go out and look for him.
“Piper?” he whispered.
“Yeah?”
“He’s not there.”
“What?” she said too loudly for comfort.
“Sssshhhh! Keep it down,” he grunted. “I have to search for him, but I’m going to need your help with something.”
“I’m not going out there.”
“You don’t have to. Do you know how to shoot a pistol?”
“My father’s a cop,” she stated.
“Is that a yes or a no?”
“Yes. I can shoot a pistol, but I’m not a good shot.”
“You don’t have to be,” he said and worked his way over to her.
“I just need you to cover my back. Sit in the doorframe, watching the second stairwell door and this door right here,” he said, pointing to the door they had both used to enter.
“Are you pointing in the dark?” she said.
“No,” he said, lowering his hand. “Can you do this for me?”
“I don’t know. I can’t see anything.”
“It’s dark out there, but not as dark as this room. There should be enough background light in the hallway to see either door open. I’m not asking you to get into a prolonged gun battle. Yell,
pop off a few rounds and run for it. I’ll take care of the rest. This would make your dad proud.”
“You can spare me the proud parent speech.”
“Sorry. Can you do this, or are you useless like the rest of your generation? Is that better?”
“Sort of,” she said.
“The pistol has no safety. You pull the trigger, it goes boom. First trigger pull is a little tough—”
“Double action. Single action. I get it.”
“Let’s get you set up.”
Less than a minute later, Piper stood in the doorway, propping the door open with her foot and facing the back hallway. Alex removed his boots and placed them inside the lounge.
“Just shoot and run in the opposite direction,” whispered Alex.
“Uh-huh.”
Alex lowered his NVGs and activated the IR laser. He had no idea what he was up against. He didn’t know if the guy turned off the flashlights because they might give up a shadow, or if he had caught a glimpse of the NVGs on Alex’s head. For all he knew, the guy just picked them up because they were expensive. It didn’t matter. The rifle light would advertise his location, and it was too dark to effectively see without the NVGs. He could use the goggles to his advantage in this environment, unless his adversary was crafty. It was still too early to tell.
He took several silent steps on the cool tile, keeping the green laser centered on the empty passage ahead. The bulk of his attention was directed on the doors lining the hallway. As he passed each closed door, he checked the handle to verify it was locked. He felt comfortable enough to turn his back on a locked door. Not that he had a choice. Knocking on doors wasn’t an option right now.
Approaching the elevator lobby corner, Alex tensed. A blood slick trailed into the elevator lobby, beyond his line of sight. His adversary had moved the wounded man, hopefully down the stairwell and out of the building. If that was the case, Alex needed to get out of here before reinforcements arrived. He studied the hallway beyond his son’s door, convinced that the shooter couldn’t have doubled back after dragging his comrade away. A significant pool of blood extended across the hallway where he’d shot one of them in the chest. The tile beyond held no footprints.
THE ALEX FLETCHER BOXSET: Books 1-5 Page 72