I bit my lower lip and shook my head. “Can I discuss this with my brother?”
“If you must.”
“I must,” I answered, with perhaps a little too much sarcasm.
“You have one hour.”
“Maybe,” I muttered. That was up to Keena.
Flynn and I were escorted back to the front door. As we walked across the courtyard back toward Blake and the others, there were no red dots on us this time. Danny wasn’t going to be alert enough to answer the question—I knew that. I was going back to ask Eddie. This was all going to be up to Eddie.
SIXTY-SIX – The Hole Truth (Hayley)
---------- (Thursday. August 11, 2022.) ----------
Blake was squatting beside Danny when Flynn and I rejoined them. Blake quickly jumped up and gave me a hug. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “Is Danny talking?”
“A little,” Eddie replied.
“Has he thanked you yet?” I asked with a smile, hiding the sickness in my stomach at what I was going to have to ask him to do.
“Not necessary.” Eddie shook his head. “He’d have done the same for me.”
“My friend.” I put my hand on his massive forearm. “The five of us couldn’t have carried you.”
Eddie laughed but said without hesitation, “He would have found a way.”
Eddie was right. Danny would have found a way. Danny would have found a way to get Eddie in that bunker too. “What has he said?”
“He asked where we are.” Blake knelt back down beside him.
Concern flooded my voice. “He didn’t know?”
Blake laughed. “No, no, no—he knew—he meant specifically. He wanted to know why we were hiding and not searching for the bunker.”
“And you told him about the girl—about the people?”
Blake nodded. “I did.”
“What did he say?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Eddie.” I turned to the African major. “We have a problem.”
“They won’t let us in the bunker, will they?”
I didn’t know exactly how to reply. “Yes and no. They won’t let you in.”
I heard Danny cough then and clearly say, “Bullshit.”
“Danny just said—”
“I heard him.” I moved over to my brother. “Danny, they said either we leave him out or we all stay out.”
“Then we all stay out,” he whispered back weakly.
“No,” Eddie replied behind us. “I will not accept that.”
“By tomorrow I’ll be strong enough—”
“There will be no tomorrow,” Eddie interrupted Danny. “You said as much yourself.”
“Maybe I was wrong.”
Eddie scoffed. “Doubtful.”
Suddenly there was a commotion in the courtyard.
“Someone’s coming,” Ava whispered. “It looks like that girl.”
I stood and stepped out into the courtyard. It was the girl, and she was running, clearly in a panic. “They’re coming,” she yelled.
I looked behind her but didn’t see anyone else. “Who?”
She ran up to me. “The enemy.” She was out of breath. “Somehow they found us. Every truck, helicopter, everything—everything is coming this way.”
“How did they—”
“The Humvee,” Blake offered behind me. “Danny says it must have had a GPS tracker.”
Of course it did. That’s why there was almost no pursuit coming from the Seven Oaks Dam. Qi Jia wanted us to go where we felt safe, saw us stop here, got everyone together, and followed the signal. We’d made it easy. “How much time do we have?”
“Seconds, minutes…” Eddie spoke, stepping out with Danny in his arms. “Who knows?”
The girl took one look at Eddie’s massive build and retreated a few paces.
“Don’t worry.” I put my hand on her arm. “He won’t hurt you.” She didn’t look convinced. “He just wants to keep my brother safe.”
She told us to follow her, introducing herself on the way as Mackenzie—insisting we call her Mack.
We hurried behind her to the entrance of the Pirates ride. There we were met by six armed guards—five men and a woman. “We’ll take him from here,” the one man said to Eddie.
Eddie handed Danny to two of the men, and they hurried into the building with him. Ava followed them in. Blake grabbed my arm. “Come on, Hayley.”
“No.” I stared at the man who had his gun pointed at Eddie. “You don’t let him in, I don’t go in.”
“Hayley, go,” Eddie growled.
“No. This is bullshit. Two times you’ve saved my brother. Twice you’ve saved me. I’m not leaving you.”
“I’m not either then.” Flynn stood beside me.
Blake sighed and rolled his eyes. “Okay then, I’m with you. You guys go back inside.”
The two remaining men looked at the other man, who seemed to be the leader. He was finally starting to look conflicted. The whirring blades of approaching helicopters almost swayed him enough—but not quite. He maintained his position—or his orders. “Have it your way.” He waved for the other two to follow him inside.
“Hayley.” Eddie was angry. “This is not your decision to make.”
“It is, in fact.” I stared him down. “It is no one else’s decision.”
Two helicopters roared overhead, and we stepped under the entrance of the ride—hiding behind a few pillars. They obviously would have picked up our heat signals. They knew where we were now.
I had taken my eyes off Blake for just a few seconds. As I turned to tell him he needed to go with Danny, I caught a brief glimpse of an object coming at my head. Before I could duck, it struck me and I blacked out.
I didn’t hear Blake say he was sorry for knocking me out.
I didn’t hear the gunfire start.
I didn’t feel Eddie pick me up.
And I didn’t hear the voice that said, “Okay, let him in.”
SIXTY-SEVEN – Fail Safe (Hayley)
---------- (Thursday. August 11, 2022.) ----------
Anaheim Safe House. California.
When I came to, I was in a dark room with only a dim lamp in the corner. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw another person sitting in a chair by an open door. “What’s going on?” I sat up suddenly and winced at the searing pain that shot through my head. “What happened?” I picked up the bag of ice that had fallen on the floor. “Did Blake knock me out?” I had a sudden flashback of something coming at my head.
Flynn stood up from the chair, nodded, and stepped over to me. “The point is you’re okay—we’re okay. They let us in—all of us.”
“Eddie too? Really? Did they knock him out too?”
“No, just you.” She shook her head. “But yes, Eddie’s in here.”
“How?”
“Your brother.”
What did he do now? “Seriously?”
“While you and I were off exploring earlier Danny had Eddie wrap his arm and hide the other C-4 block under the wrap. When they brought him in, he took the C-4 cube out and stole a gun from one of the guys carrying him. He threatened to blow the bunker up from the inside if they didn’t let Eddie in. Somehow he convinced them he was serious—they didn’t have a choice.”
“They could have killed him.” I couldn’t hide the concern in my voice.
“I’m sure he knew that. But he also knew if they’d called Hawaii, they’d know they couldn’t afford to shoot an active American captain, and—as the governor called him—a living hero.”
“I didn’t think he was strong enough—”
“I think Danny was counting on them thinking that too.”
That son of a…
“In any case, it worked…we’re all in here safe.”
“And Qi Jia?”
“That’s the interesting thing. They’ve been blowing the crap out of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. But there’s a tunnel running from that basement room we were in over to T
om Sawyer’s Island. We’re actually under that island, watching them demolish the place. Look.” She pointed to a screen above my head.
I glanced up at the security feed and watched as nearly a thousand men ripped apart the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. “They’re definitely looking for us. What if they find the tunnel?”
“That’s the best part.” Flynn was amazingly calm about all of this. “The Army Corps of Engineers outdid themselves here. That room we were in earlier had a false-floor panel that opened into a three-story staircase. At the bottom of the staircase there was another door leading to an airtight sub-like tunnel over to the island. Once we were inside the sub tunnel, it turned like a drawbridge under the water, swinging us all the way around to the island. It’s airtight and waterproof once the doors are sealed. We just walked right over here. Tom Sawyer’s entire island is one giant bunker.”
“So couldn’t they find that tunnel too? If they found the floor panel and blew the door open?”
“No.” Flynn was laughing now. “We’re good. If they do find the door that led to the tunnel on the other side, and even if they do manage to open it, the whole place will flood. It’s rigged to self-destruct—or they can blow it from here as a failsafe. There’s no way anyone ever figures out there’s any passage at all over to this island. Thirty feet below the surface of water that’s only fifteen feet deep. We’re safe, Hayley.”
I tried to stand, and Flynn quickly helped me up. “Where is everyone else?”
“Everyone but Eddie is in the control room,” she replied.
“Where’s Eddie?” My alarm must have been visible.
“Don’t worry. He’s in a cell, but he’s fine.”
“I need to see him.”
Flynn nodded. “Okay.”
She led me to the cell where he was being held. He stood as soon as he saw me. “Hayley, I’m so sorry. We didn’t have another choice.”
“Forget it.” I waved him off. “That was stupid. You two should never have done that. But I’m guessing knocking me out was Danny’s idea.”
“It was my idea.” Blake’s voice behind me made me jump.
I turned around and slugged him in the chest. “It was a stupid idea, you moron. You don’t get to decide what I do with my life.”
“Easy princess.” Blake laughed, even though I was anything but smiling. “Your brother gave me pretty clear instructions about you. I was not, under any circumstance, to let you give your life for this guy.” He wagged his thumb toward Eddie. “Would you have gone quietly if I’d have asked in a nicer way?”
He knew the answer to that question. “What do you mean he gave you instructions? When?”
“When he was whispering sweet nothings in my ear out there—some of them were actually sweet somethings.” He was still smiling.
“Wait. Why is everyone so calm about this? Danny told you to knock me out?”
“Not exactly. But he knew they weren’t going to simply let Eddie walk in here, and you weren’t going to let Eddie stay out there. There’s got to be a mule somewhere on your family tree.”
I swung at him again, but he blocked me this time. “You’re the ass, Blake.”
“Hayley, Danny had his plan, but he still wanted me to make sure we got you in. I did what I had to do and now everyone is safe.”
“Aaargh—fine—thank you for saving my life. Now, will you shut up and tell me what’s going on with Hawaii?”
Blake pursed his lips, trying hard to prevent another smile. “Which one, princess, shut up or tell you what’s going on?”
“Damn it, Blake, if you call me princess one more time—” I took a step toward him with my fist raised.
A voice in the hall interrupted us. “You guys need to come right now.” It was Mackenzie. With Blake momentarily distracted I took one more shot at his chest—successfully landing that punch. I gave him a fake smile as he took a step back—covering his chest—and I followed Mackenzie down the hall. “What is it, Mack?”
“They just fired the missiles.”
“What?” Blake almost yelled right behind me.
“NORAD launched the missiles,” Mackenzie repeated.
“How many did—”
“All of them,” she said.
I froze in my tracks. We’re too late.
SIXTY-EIGHT – Anything is Possible
---------- (Thursday. August 11, 2022.) ----------
At the Hexagon on Oahu, Hawaii.
By the time the missile warning alarms sounded at the Hexagon, it was already too late. Damien knew the Shield was going down. He’d received a call from Danny—in the Anaheim Safe House—that missiles would probably be on the way tonight. Danny had hoped they’d have several more hours—giving Damien enough time to get someone up to the Shield transmitter. They didn’t even get an hour.
It wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Keena wouldn’t drop the Shield until the missiles were already well on their way, until just before they started hitting Hawaii. That’s how Baker would have it set up. That’s how the Libyan commander would have wanted it.
Danny figured Keena had programmed them all—probably even individually—at gunpoint. She’d hold out on the launch codes as long as possible, but eventually she’d break. Anyone would have. Danny told Damien about the Qi Jia forces following them to the bunker at Disneyland—certain word of their escape had made it back to Colorado. Commander Boli would know time was of the essence to launch those missiles and would do what was necessary to break Keena immediately.
Damien had awakened Stacy and Dewey fifteen minutes ago. They were currently sprinting up the Stairway to Heaven to power the Shield back up manually—when it did go down. He sent them up there just in case they had enough time, but he was relatively certain they wouldn’t. Captain Baker would have taken their every measure into account. If Keena had done it “right,” they’d have a one-minute window at best between the Shield going down and the missiles striking—and Damien knew she’d have had supervision the entire time. She’d have done it right.
Sure enough, a few minutes later, Damien watched as the codes from NORAD flashed across his screen—almost a hundred nuclear missiles launching from silos all over the country. It seemed excessive for a few small islands, but they clearly weren’t taking any chances. At 15,000 miles per hour, the first ones would get here in five to ten minutes. Damien knew he could try to stop some of them—to essentially play a real-life game of Space Invaders—but he wouldn’t have time to do enough. The missiles were already screaming their way.
It was a little odd that Keena had programmed some from the East Coast too, given their maximum projected range was 3,500 miles or so—barely two-thirds of the way here—but Damien figured Baker had merely ordered them all launched. It wasn’t going to matter. The Shield would go down any minute now. Damien had to bunker them in.
It was Damien’s task to lock down Area 52 and seal it off—to take them deep and save as many lives as he could. He’d given Nicole exactly sixty seconds to get as many people as possible into this bunker before he had to close it off.
Nicole ran down the hall to the medical wing, screaming for Trigger and Twix to get everyone into the bunker immediately. Trigger picked up Tara while Twix and Deacon pushed Kate’s bed down the hall. Everyone made it in except the governor. No one knew where he was. Damien shouted that he had to close it and, despite a few objections, he sealed every door—and Area 52 slid down into its airtight nuke-prooof bubble.
Two minutes later, it was locked in place, safe from even the most direct of nuclear strikes. The thirteen of them huddled together in the control room—with two surgeons, three nurses and two security guards—watching the screens, waiting for them to go black, for the missiles to wipe out Hawaii—for the last American state to fall.
The missiles—as expected—decimated every city they hit. New York City, Miami, Dallas, Chicago, Anchorage, Toronto, Seattle, San Diego, Denver and Colorado Springs—the headquarters for each Qi Jia region and NORAD. Not a
single missile made it to Hawaii. The Shield never went down. Inside the Area 52 bunker, the group watched in shock as missile after missile disappeared from the screen until there were none remaining. The ones that did head out over the Pacific fell well short of the islands. Something had gone wrong—terribly wrong. Or—rather—something had gone right—awesomely right.
As it sank in exactly what was happening, Damien frantically began hammering at his keyboard. He pulled up the screen of launch codes, trying to decipher the coordinates tagged in each. Nicole stood over his shoulder and searched the same numbers and letters, but even she couldn’t see it.
“I don’t know how she did it,” Nicole muttered.
“She?” Reagan asked. “Who did what?”
“Keena did this,” Damien replied. “I’m sure of it. Somewhere in here is an intentional programmer glitch—a routing “malfunction” with a trigger that would default all missiles to the targets she preset. What they see wouldn’t be what they hit. Without the book she would have had to memorize a specific code and program a “mask” and override on every serial entry. But—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa…” Tara raised her arm. “Slow way the heck down! You two are the only two who understand you two. In English…please.”
Nicole turned, nodding. “What he means is we think Keena somehow pre-programmed a majority of these missiles to strike certain cities—but she set it up before today. She would have only needed one code from Danny’s book—just one—some uniform sequence to put in every missile launch code…which was most likely the sequence she held out on until now. She could have gotten that code from Danny at any point in time.”
Reagan cleared her throat. “Uh…why would he give that to her?”
“He didn’t keep anything from them.” Damien gestured towards the Pack members. “She would’ve only needed to remember one code.”
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