by Bobby Akart
X-Ray — real name, Eugene O’Reilly, was the newest member of the Haven community, having arrived on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve. Bearing the same name as the famous character on the M*A*S*H television show, his grandfather provided him the nickname X-Ray, and it fit his perfectly. A science nerd growing up, X-Ray was especially adept at all things electronic or associated with the internet. His elaborate Faraday Cages and computer setups seemed to be a perfect fit for the Haven.
Book One: Doomsday: Apocalypse
It was the beginning of great internal strife, neighbor versus neighbor, warrior versus warrior. The fuse was lit with a simple message, understood by a select few, but impacting the lives of all Americans. It read:
On the day of the feast of Saint Sylvester,
Tear down locked,
Green light burning.
Love, MM
And so it begins…
In Doomsday: Apocalypse, all events occur on New Year’s Eve
New York City
It was New Year’s Eve, and New York City was the center of the annual celebration’s universe. Over a million people had crowded into Times Square to bid a collective farewell to the old year and to express hope and joy for the year ahead.
There were some, however, who had other plans for the night’s festivities. A clandestine meeting atop the newly constructed One World Trade Center, ground zero for the most heinous terrorist attack on the United States in history, revealed that another attack was afoot. One that sprang from a meeting in a remote farmhouse in Maryland and was perpetrated by a shadowy group.
In New York, Tom and Donna Shelton, retirees from Charleston, South Carolina, belatedly celebrated their fortieth anniversary atop the Hyatt Centric Hotel overlooking Times Square. Caught up in the moment, they made the fateful decision to join the revelers on the streets for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of the famous ball drop and countdown to New Year’s.
However, terror reared its ugly head as a squadron of quadcopter drones descended upon Midtown Manhattan, detonating bombs over Times Square and other major landmarks in the city. Chaos ensued and the Sheltons found themselves fighting for their lives.
After an injury to Donna, the couple made their way back to their hotel room, where they thought they were safe. However, Tom received a mysterious text, one that he was afraid to reveal to his wife. It came from a sender whom he considered a part of his distant past. It was an ominous warning that weighed heavily on his mind.
The text message read:
The real danger on the ocean, as well as the land, is people.
Fare thee well and Godspeed, Patriot!
MM
Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey
Dr. Angela Rankin and her husband, Tyler, were in the second leg of their educational vacation with their two children, Kaycee and J.C., although the New Year’s Eve portion of the trip was supposed to be the fun part. They had arrived at Six Flags Great Adventure, the self-proclaimed scariest theme park on the planet.
Following a trip to Boston to visit historic sites related to our nation’s founding, they were headed home to Richmond, Virginia, with planned stops in Philadelphia and Washington to see more landmarks. The planned stop at Six Flags was to be a highlight of the trip for the kids.
The night was full of thrills and chills as they rode one roller coaster after another. Young J.C., their son, wanted to save the wildest, gut-wrenchingest roller coaster for last—Kingda Ka. The tallest roller coaster in America, Kingda Ka, in just a matter of seconds, shot its coaster up a four-hundred-fifty-six-foot track until the riders reached the top, where they were suspended for a moment, only to be sent down the other side. Except on New Year’s Eve, some of them never made it down, on the coaster, that is.
When the Rankin family hit the top of the Kingda Ka ride, an electromagnetic pulse attack struck the area around Philadelphia, which included a part of the Mid-Atlantic states stretching from Wilmington, Delaware, into northern New Jersey. The devastating EMP destroyed electronics, power grids, and the computers used to operate modern vehicles.
It also brought Kingda Ka to a standstill with the Rankins and others suspended facedown at the apex of the ride. At first, the riders avoided panicking. To be sure, they were all frightened, but they felt safe thanks to Tyler’s reassurances, and they waited to be rescued.
However, one man became impatient and felt sure he and his wife could make their way to safety. On his four-seat coaster car, with the assistance of a college-age man, they broke loose the safety bar in order to crawl out of the coaster. This turned out to be a bad idea. The young man immediately flew head over heels, four hundred feet to his death.
The man who came up with the self-rescue plan and his wife attempted to shimmy down a support post to a safety platform within Kingda Ka but lost their grip. Both of them plunged to their deaths.
Safety personnel finally arrived on the scene, and they began the arduous task of rescuing the remaining passengers, leaving the Rankins for last since they were at the front of the string of coaster cars. Unfortunately, as the safety bar was lifted, J.C. fell out of the car, only to be retrained by a safety harness that had been affixed to his body.
Despite the fact that he was suspended twenty feet below the coaster, held by only a rope, the family worked together to hoist him to safety and an eventual rescue. But their night was not done.
The Rankins made their way to the parking lot, where their 1974 Bronco awaited them. Tyler pulled Angela aside, retrieved his handgun that was hidden under the chassis of the truck, and explained. The EMP had disabled almost all of the vehicles around them. Thousands of people were milling about. Most likely, they had the only operating vehicle for miles. And the moment they started it, everyone would either want a ride or would want to take their truck. When they decided to leave, it would be mayhem. So they waited for the most opportune time—daylight.
Mobile, Alabama
Michael Cortland split his time between his home in Mobile—with wife, Meredith, and daughter, Hannah—and Washington, DC, where he served as the chief of staff to powerful United States Senator Hugh McNeil. Congress had remained in session during what would ordinarily be the Christmas recess due to the political wranglings concerning the President of the United States and attempts to have him removed from office. But that was not the reason Cort, as he was called by his friends and family, was taking the late evening flight home.
He had been summoned by his father-in-law, George Trowbridge, to his East Haven, Connecticut, estate. Trowbridge was considered one of the most powerful people in Washington despite the fact he’d never held public office. Cort was the son Trowbridge never had, and as a result, he had been taken under the patriarch’s wing and groomed for great things.
The conversation was a difficult one, as the old man was bedridden and permanently connected to dialysis. However, as they conversed, Cort was left with these ominous words:
Either you control destiny, or destiny controls you.
Cort was consumed by what his father-in-law meant as he waited for a connecting flight from Atlanta, Georgia, to Mobile, Alabama. The flight that should have been routine was anything but. On final approach to Mobile, the plane suffered a total blackout of power. Nothing worked on board the aircraft, including battery backups, warning lights, or communications.
The pilots made every effort to ditch the plane in the Gulf of Mexico, but the impact on the water caused the fuselage to break in two before it sank towards the sandy bottom of the gulf.
Cort leapt into action to help save his surrounding passengers, including an important Alabama congressman from the other side of the aisle. His Good Samaritan efforts almost killed him. He almost drowned on that evening and was fortunate to be rescued and delivered to the emergency room in Mobile.
After a visit from Meredith and Hannah, Cort began to assess the devastating events around the country and then hearkened back to the words of his father-in-law regarding destiny. Deep
down, he knew there was a connection.
Atlanta, Georgia
On the surface, Will Hightower appeared to be a man down on his luck although some might argue that he’d made his own bed, now he had to sleep in it, as the saying goes.
Will’s life had changed dramatically in the course of two years since a single inartful use of words during a stressful situation caused his family’s world to come crashing down. He had been a respected member of Philly SWAT, one of the most renowned special weapons and tactics teams in the nation. Until one night he lost that respect.
During the investigation and media firestorm, his ex-wife, Karen, turned to the arms of another man, one of his partners. His son, Ethan, and daughter, Skylar, were berated in school and alienated from him by their mother. And Will made the decision to leave Philadelphia to provide his family a respite from the continuous attacks from the media and groups who demanded Will be removed from the police force.
With a new start in Atlanta as part of the security team at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Will looked forward to a new life in a new city, where his children could visit far away from his past. Ethan and Skylar arrived in Atlanta for a long New Year’s weekend that was to begin with a concert, featuring Beyoncé and Jay-Z, at the stadium.
A poor choice by his son landed the kids on the field level of the concert in front of the stage, and then the lights went out. Saboteurs had infiltrated the stadium and caused all power to be disconnected. The thousands of concertgoers panicked, and the kids were in peril.
Will was able to find an injured Ethan and frightened Skylar. He whisked them away to the safety of his home; however, their evening was not over. Will was able to pick up on the tragic events occurring around the country. The collapse he’d feared was on the brink of occurring manifested itself.
Then he received a text. Four simple words that meant so much to his future and the safety of his children. It read:
Time to come home. H.
He’d been asked to come home. But not in the sense most would think. His home was not back in Philadelphia with an ex-wife who’d made his life miserable. It was in another place that he’d become a part of since he left the City of Brotherly Love.
It was time for him to go to the Haven, where he was simply known as Delta.
Washington, DC
Hayden Blount was young, attractive, and a brilliant attorney. She also represented the President of the United States as he fought to protect his presidency. After winning reelection, the president came under attack again, but this time, it was from his own side of the aisle.
Making history, his vice president and members of his cabinet invoked a little-known clause of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution to remove him from office because they deemed him unfit for the job.
Using Hayden’s law firm to represent him, the president counterpunched by firing all of the signers of the letter and installing a new cabinet. This created chaos within Washington, and many considered the machinations to have created a constitutional crisis.
The matter was now before the Supreme Court, where Hayden once clerked, and she was putting the final touches on a brief that had to be filed before midnight on New Year’s Eve. After a conversation with the senior partner who spearheaded the president’s representation, and a brief appearance at the firm’s year-end soiree, Hayden left for home.
Trouble seemed to be on the horizon for the young woman when she got stuck on the building’s elevator for a brief time. After enduring two drunken carousers, the elevator was fixed, and she happily headed for the subway trains, which carried people around metropolitan Washington, DC.
She was headed south of the city toward Congress Heights when suddenly, just as the train was at its lowest point in a tunnel under the Anacostia River, the lights went out, and so did all power to the train.
A carefully orchestrated cyber attack had been used to shut down all transportation in Washington, DC, including the trains, public buses, and the airports. The city was brought to a standstill, and Hayden was stuck in the subway, in the dark, with a predator stalking her.
She got away from the man who would do her harm, using her survival skills and Krav Maga training. Then she helped some women and children to safety by climbing up a ladder and through a ventilation duct.
Once at home with her beloved Maine coon cat, Prowler, Hayden began to learn of the attacks around the country. She was shocked to learn the Washington transportation outage wasn’t the lead story. It was far from it.
Monocacy Farm, South of Frederick, Maryland
The story ended as it began. The people who had initiated these attacks came together for a toast at the Civil War–era farmhouse overlooking the river. They weren’t politicians or elected officials. They were spooks, spies, and soldiers. Government officials and bureaucrats—accountable to no one but themselves.
They shared a glass of champagne and cheered on their successes of the evening, hurtful as they were to their fellow Americans. They acknowledged their task had just begun. Standing before them, the host of the gathering closed the meeting with the following words:
“One man’s luck is often generated by another man’s misfortunes. I, for one, believe that we can make our own luck. It will be necessary to achieve our goals as laid out in our carefully crafted plans.
“With this New Year’s toast, I urge all of you to trust the plan. Know that a storm is coming. It will be a storm upon which the blood of patriots and tyrants will spill.”
He raised his champagne glass into the air, and everyone in the room followed suit.
“Godspeed, Patriots!”
And so it began…
Book Two: Doomsday: Haven
The story continues with the introduction of Ryan and Blair Smart, and their four-legged kids, Chubby and The Roo.
My mother taught me a German proverb that goes like this — Wer im Spiel Pech hat, hat Glück in der Liebe. Or something like that (My German is a little rusty). This translates to mean he who is unlucky in game or gambling, is lucky at love.
Well, Ryan and Blair Smart were lucky in both. The married couple from Florida spent each day of their lives together and loved every minute of it. They were not gamblers, but on one fateful night before Halloween, they decided to take a stab at winning the largest Megaball lottery in history.
They won. Now, they faced the daunting task of what to do with their money.
The Smarts were genuinely concerned about the direction their country was taking and vowed to never let outside influences disrupt their happiness. They wanted to find peace and serenity in their daily lives while preparing for the eventual collapse of American society.
Over the next two years, their lottery winnings were transformed into the Haven, a community developed on the site of the Hunger Games movie set located at Henry River Mill Village in North Carolina, an hour or so west of Charlotte.
The community was designed to use the existing structures on the land, plus modern ones specifically purposed for creating a preparedness community. The Smarts set about to assemble a team, all of whom had an important skill to contribute to the Haven. Through direct contact and the recruitment of like-minded thinkers they met on social media, the Haven became a reality.
And it was just in time. In the midst of a quiet New Year’s Eve celebration, the proverbial crap hit the fan.
OUR OTHER CHARACTERS
As a new day dawned on a new year, our characters found themselves in various states of disarray. As the reader found out in book two, they all had a common goal—get to the Haven. The journey was not easy for any of them.
HAYDEN BLOUNT was in a state of limbo. She was scheduled to appear before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of the President as he fought the 25th Amendment action taken against him. She was self-reliant and confident in her capabilities, but by the same token, she wasn’t going to risk her life unnecessarily by staying in the metropolitan Washington, DC area as society collapsed around her.
&
nbsp; Hayden prepares for either eventuality and travels to a nearby Walmart to purchase additional ammunition and supplies. After stopping by the gun range to retrieve her firearms, she sees a group of people spray-painting graffiti on a bridge support. The drawing of a fist raising a black rose high into the air was unknown to her, but left an indelible mark, nonetheless.
TOM and DONNA SHELTON had survived the chaos of New Year’s Eve with the only injury coming to Donna’s ankle. As they rested in their hotel room, they were startled by a loud knocking at their door. The police were evacuating the area around Time Square due to a dirty bomb scare.
With the assistance of a wheelchair, Tom and Donna made their way through Midtown Manhattan to a staging area where buses were provided for refugees to flee the city. One of the destinations to choose from was East Haven, Connecticut, a place that Tom knew well.
While Donna slept by his side, Tom decided to call upon a resident of East Haven whom he’d met in the past — George Trowbridge. During this meeting in which Tom asked for assistance to get closer to home, it was revealed that the two men had been connected for many years.
Trowbridge was rich and powerful, and he’d purchased the loyalty of Tom Shelton with a handsome stipend in exchange for seemingly mundane tasks related to his command at Joint Base Charleston. The relationship had been hidden from Donna, but she accepted her husband’s explanation as their benefactor assisted them to Norfolk.
During the meeting at the Trowbridge residence, the sickly man provided Tom a letter to deliver to Meredith Cortland. Tom did not know anything about her, but Trowbridge assured him that their paths might cross.