“Okay, I’ll see you soon.” It seemed as though Jimmy sped off before he even finished his sentence. Gordon looked on as he accelerated down the road, zigzagging around the endless obstacle course of stalled cars. He then realized he and Jimmy weren’t thinking clearly as Gordon should have asked him for a lift.
“I’m such an idiot!” Gordon said out loud as he watched Jimmy’s truck vanish over the hill.
It took Gordon another thirty minutes to complete his journey home. He parked the bike in front of his house and ran to the door. The ride had really taken a lot out of him, but he needed to unload as soon as possible so he could go back out.
He opened the door and yelled for Samantha. He walked down the hallway to the kitchen and grabbed a towel. He was drenched with sweat.
“Daddy, Daddy!” Haley yelled from upstairs.
He could hear her running down the steps.
“Daddy, Daddy!” Haley yelled again as she ran into the kitchen.
Gordon bent down and opened his arms. Haley ran straight into him.
“Yucky, Daddy, you’re all wet!” Haley squirmed away from Gordon.
“Sorry, sweetie, Daddy was working.”
Samantha walked up to Gordon and hugged him too. “Thank God you’re safe.”
“Thanks, honey. Not to cut the homecoming short, but I have to get the bike inside, and Jimmy’s stopping by anytime.”
“Why is Jimmy coming by?” Samantha sounded very curious about this newest development.
“I ran into him on the way home from the store. By the way, the trip was a huge success. I told Jimmy my theory on the situation. He has a working vehicle, so we’re going to take it to Ralph’s in 4S Ranch to see if we can get more supplies,” Gordon said, wiping sweat from his face as he laid out his plan.
“What should we do while you’re gone?”
“Why not go down to Jimmy’s house and spend some time with Simone? The kids will love it and you can help her with any prepping she hasn’t done,” Gordon said. He tossed the towel down on the counter and walked to the garage.
He manually unlocked and pushed up the garage door. Just as he stepped outside an elderly neighbor from two doors down ran up to him.
“Did you hear?” The man was very clearly stressed. “The blackout is due to some sort of terrorist attack.”
“How do you know that?” Gordon asked. He placed his hands on his hips and looked at the older man, feigning skepticism.
“I have a hand-crank radio and heard the emergency broadcast system put out an alert. They’ve been repeating it every few minutes. Something about an attack on the power grid and some kind of attacks back east. Right now the info isn’t clear.”
“What else did they mention?”
“That’s it; they recommend that we all stay inside and that the power may be out for a few days or more.”
Gordon scoffed to himself, knowing that it would be a lot longer than a few days; then he remembered that the man mentioned other attacks on the East Coast. He wondered what that meant. Knowing the news would eventually get out and once it did it would spread quickly; he couldn’t waste time.
“Maybe I can come over and listen with you later or maybe you could help keep me informed if you hear anything else,” Gordon said to his neighbor as he stepped over to his bike.
“Looks like you were thinking this thing could last longer,” his neighbor commented, noticing all the food and supplies.
“I always like to be prepared,” Gordon answered; he still couldn’t come to an agreement with himself whether or not to share his opinion until he could secure more food and supplies.
The rumbling of Jimmy’s truck interrupted their conversation. The neighbor turned quickly, surprised.
“Your truck works?” he asked while jogging up to Jimmy.
Gordon parked his bike inside and noticed Samantha standing there with Haley.
“Where’s Hunter?” Gordon asked.
“He’s upstairs standing watch,” Samantha said.
“Good,” Gordon said, nodding.
Gordon then heard his neighbor ask, “Can I go with you?”
Gordon turned around and shook his head at Jimmy. Jimmy raised his shoulders and told the neighbor, “Not enough room, sorry.”
Jimmy was short, lean, and always looked like he had slept with his clothes on. His shoulder-length brown hair was hardly ever styled. Gordon just assumed that Jimmy’s focus was not on himself but on his business and family. Jimmy ran a successful business near downtown San Diego.
“Gordon!” Samantha said loudly.
Gordon turned back around to face Samantha and walked up to her. He stood in front of her and whispered, “We don’t have the room.”
“We have to start helping our neighbors,” Samantha said, interrupting him.
“We don’t have the room, Sam. We need to get as many supplies as possible. He is not my concern right now, you and the kids are.”
“I’m sorry, Gordon, this is not how we’ll survive. We need to help our neighbors,” Samantha said.
“Sam, I don’t even know his name, do you? Listen, I need to get going and get more supplies. Please trust me and don’t interfere.”
“I think you’re wrong, but I’ll leave it at that. I’m going to go inside and get Hunter. We’re going to go over to Jimmy and Simone’s house.” Samantha turned and walked back into the house with Haley.
Gordon watched her walk back inside. He respected his wife, but he would not budge on this. Protecting his family was his priority; helping neighbors would come a distant second.
“Sorry. Maybe we can pick you up some ice, but we don’t have room for you,” Jimmy kept insisting to the neighbor standing outside his truck.
“I’m sorry, I’m Gordon,” Gordon said, walking back up to his neighbor with his hand stretched out.
“James,” the neighbor said, shaking Gordon’s hand.
“What do you need? Maybe we can pick up some items for you. That’s if we can even get in a store; it could be closed.”
“I want some ice for my freezer items and some batteries, Ds and AAs,” James answered.
“Okay, we’ll see what we can do. We’ll let you know when we get back,” Gordon said.
“Thank you. Can I give you my credit card?” James asked.
“Don’t worry about it, let’s settle up later.”
“Thank you very much,” James said, then walked off toward his house.
Watching James, Gordon thought that he would soon have to let everyone know what he thought, but that would have to wait till tomorrow. Today and tonight was about getting more supplies for his family.
Gordon turned toward Jimmy and said, “Give me a minute.”
Gordon then jogged into the garage, closed it behind him, locked the door, and made his way to his office. He unlocked his armoire and pulled open a drawer; inside were several handguns. He grabbed an HK 9 millimeter and two full magazines. He tucked it into his pants and locked the armoire back up.
On his way out the front door he ran into Samantha. She was bringing the kids down the stairs.
“Sam, I heard you out there. I know you think that I don’t listen sometimes but I do. I hear what you’re saying, and my plan, our plan, is to eventually come together as a community and work together to survive this,” he said with a softer tone than he had spoken to her just moments before.
She reached the landing of the stairs holding Haley in one arm and a bag in the other. Hunter was following close behind with a small backpack. “Sweetie, I get it. I do understand what you’re doing and I appreciate you for doing it. I never doubt your commitment to this family. I guess I just hate knowing that others will suffer and here we are stocking up.”
“It does suck for them, but they are not my responsibility. You all are,” he said, looking and feeling better
now that she was on board.
“Stop wasting time and get back out there,” she said with a grin.
“Roger that. I love you,” he said, winking at her. He walked up to her and kissed her, then kissed Haley.
“Love you, Daddy,” Haley said, then followed up with a quick request. “Can I come with you?”
“Not this time, sweetie, sorry. Go with Mommy and visit your friend Mason,” Gordon answered, petting Haley’s head. He looked at Hunter, who was standing on the step behind Samantha. “Big guy, remember, take care of your ladies while I’m out.”
“Yes, sir, I will,” Hunter said. He was a bit tired now. “Can I play Xbox later?”
The question broke Gordon’s heart. All the little luxuries to which his kids had become accustomed were gone in a flash.
“Sorry, buddy, but the power is out and will be for some time. Why don’t you grab a few of your Star Wars figures to play with at Mason’s?”
“Okay,” he answered, disappointed.
“Okay, babe, I’m out. We’ll probably be a couple hours, maybe more. We should be back by late afternoon.”
He ran to Jimmy’s truck and jumped into the passenger seat.
“Here,” Gordon said, handing the HK to Jimmy.
“Whoa. Really? You think it’s going to be that bad? You know I’m not a big gun guy,” Jimmy said, taken aback by the sight of the handgun.
“Listen, I don’t think it will be that bad at Ralph’s but you better get used to it. I believe shit will hit the fan and you better know how to use this thing. Remember what happened after Katrina hit New Orleans or the chaos in the Northeast after Hurricane Sandy? This is like a million Katrinas. Jimmy, you’re going to have to change your perspective. Your business is gone; your job now is to find food and water for your family daily. I don’t mean to preach, but you need to wake up. the lights are probably not coming on for a long, long time.” Gordon didn’t mince words.
“Okay, give it to me,” Jimmy said reluctantly. He grabbed the handgun and slid it between the seat and the center console.
“Enough bullshitting, let’s go get some food,” Gordon said loudly.
Jimmy started the truck. It had a deep exhaust sound. He put it into gear and accelerated quickly, causing a brief spin out. They headed west, toward the slowly descending sun.
Musa Qala, Helmand Province, Afghanistan
“Van Zandt, you awake, bro?” Tomlinson asked. The tent was pitch black except for a slight haze coming from the old halogen lights outside.
“Yes,” Sebastian answered from the darkness.
“I’m really worried for my girl. You think she’s okay?”
“I’m sure she’s fine; just probably laying around with a candle lit, thinking of you,” Sebastian answered.
“Yeah, you’re right.” Tomlinson sounded a little more relieved.
Sebastian tossed and turned. He couldn’t sleep for two reasons: the loud sound of heavy machinery outside his tent, and the never-ending thoughts about Gordon, Samantha, and the kids. He felt that he needed to be there with them and was considering voicing his opinion on the topic. He finally made the decision, and since he couldn’t sleep he sat up. He felt around in the dark until he located his boots, put them on, and left the tent heading directly for Gunny Smith’s tent.
Even though it was very early in the morning, there was a lot of activity going on at the base. Everyone was prepping for the move out. Heavy equipment moved items onto pallets and everyone was abuzz.
It didn’t take Sebastian long to make it to Gunny’s tent. He was about to poke his head in and wake him, but paused. Thinking that complaining would get him nowhere, he changed his mind and walked away.
“Corporal Van Zandt, did you need to see me?” asked Gunny.
Sebastian turned around to see Gunny Smith walking toward his own tent.
“Yes, Gunny, I was looking for you.” Sebastian walked toward Gunny. Sebastian felt very nervous and now wished he had never decided to do this.
When the two reached each other, Sebastian stood for a brief second, silent. He was still contemplating whether he should voice his concern.
“Well what is it, Van Zandt?” Gunny asked, hands on his hips.
“Gunny, I’m trying to figure how to put this. May I speak frankly?” Sebastian asked.
“Let’s go into my hooch, we can have a conversation in there, but please make it brief, we have a lot of work to do,” Gunny said. He walked over to his tent and went inside. “Come on in, Corporal.”
Sebastian followed.
“Sit down over there on that cot,” Gunny said, pointing at a cot up against the left side of the tent.
There wasn’t much in the tent: two cots, a makeshift desk with a chair, and a few boxes of Meals Ready to Eat rations. Gunny took off his cover and tossed it on the cot and sat down in the chair.
Gunny just stared at Sebastian, waiting for him to talk. He was of average height, lean, always tan, and had the scars of war already on his body from his face down to his arms.
“Okay, Corporal, what’s on your mind?”
“I’m going to be blunt.”
“Please do, Corporal.”
Sebastian kept hesitating, but he knew he was committed to speaking his mind now; he just wanted to phrase it right without looking like a whiner.
“Gunny, I don’t like this idea of going to the East Coast while our families are on the West Coast, possibly in harm’s way.”
“I understand your concern, Corporal, but our mission is to go support recovery efforts on the East Coast around D.C. You’re a Marine and your orders have been given.”
“I understand that, Gunny, you know I do, but has anyone else voiced these concerns to the battalion commander? I can’t imagine I am the only one who has this concern. These attacks on the homeland are unprecedented and put all of our families in life-and-death situations,” Sebastian said. The tension could be seen in his body as he spoke.
“Yes, your concerns have been expressed. However, we have our mission and we cannot deviate from that. Our new mission is like any other we have taken. We will do it and do it like U.S. Marines. I do appreciate you coming to me and you always know my door is open. I trust that even with your concerns and disagreement with our new mission that you’ll perform your duties like you always have?” Gunny asked as he stood up from his chair.
“Yes, Gunny, of course,” Sebastian assured him, standing up as well. Sebastian walked to the entrance of the tent.
“Make sure your team is ready to go, we have company formation at oh-five-hundred,” Gunny told Sebastian.
“We’ll be ready, Gunny,” Sebastian replied. He exited the tent.
Walking back toward his tent, he felt conflicted. The Marine Corps meant a lot to him, but knowing his brother and family were in harm’s way changed everything.
“Van Zandt!” Gunny yelled at Sebastian as he was walking away.
Sebastian turned around quickly and saw Gunny Smith standing just outside the entrance to his tent. Sebastian walked back to him.
“Van Zandt, if you’re concerned about your brother, don’t be; he can handle himself.”
“You know my brother?” Sebastian asked, surprised.
“Yes. I never thought to mention it before, but I met him in Iraq back in 2004. We fought together in Fallujah.”
“You were with him in Fallujah?” Sebastian asked. He had never known this and was even more shocked by Gunny’s bringing it up.
“Yes, I knew him for a very short period, but in that short time he proved to be a very capable Marine and NCO. I know your brother will be fine; he will have no problem taking care of himself and his family. He’ll do what is necessary now, just like he did in Fallujah.”
“I hear ya, Gunny. I just feel like we need to be with our families and protecting them now. I’m a faithful M
arine, but my family is important to me,” Sebastian said.
“Like I said, there are others who feel the way you do and have expressed these concerns with just as much passion, but unless our orders change, we must push forward.”
“I know, Gunny. Thanks again and thank you for mentioning my brother. I do feel better now that we’ve talked,” Sebastian said.
“Not a problem. We’re a big family here too and we must take care of our Marines when they have a legitimate issue or concern,” Gunny said, placing his hand on Sebastian’s shoulder and patting it.
Sebastian turned around and walked away. He really did feel better knowing that the Gunny knew his brother and appreciated his affirming that Gordon was very capable. However, the conversation didn’t relieve his overall issue with the new mission. As he walked back to his tent, an unfamiliar, unexpected thought popped into his mind. Should he abandon his unit and find a way home?
Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma
“Sir, based upon mounting evidence and credible intelligence, we have concluded that Washington, D.C., has been destroyed and all remnants of our government there has gone with it. At this time, it is monumentally important that we maintain continuity,” Griswald explained, placing his pointer down on the table in front of him.
“What do you mean, General?” Conner asked.
“Sir, our intelligence indicates that both the president and vice president were killed in this morning’s attacks. We must get you sworn in as soon as possible and transport you immediately to a secure underground bunker.”
“General, before you go any further, I need to be excused for a moment. Where’s the closest bathroom?” Conner stood up, overwhelmed by this staggering revelation.
“Just down the hall, sir, on the left,” an Air Force officer answered.
“Thank you, I’ll be back in a few.” Conner stepped away from the table and walked quickly to the door. He pushed it open and made his way as quickly as he could to the bathroom. He went inside the bathroom and called out to make sure he was alone. He opened all the stall doors to double check. Once comfortable that he was truly alone, he walked to the sink and turned on the cold tap. He cupped a handful of water and splashed it on his face. After a few more splashes, he stared into the mirror at his own reflection. As he watched the water drip down his face, he noticed dark circles under his bloodshot eyes.
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