by James Hunt
“I know,” she said.
***
Jim paced around the tent checking his watch. His steps were in sync with the sliding of Brett’s blade sharpening on a whetstone.
“Checking it every five seconds won’t make it tick by any faster, Jim,” Brett drawled.
Jim stopped. He found a seat and dropped himself in it. He leaned forward onto his elbows and rubbed his hands with his face.
“What are you worried about? We have the drive. We have a plan. All we have to do now is sit back and let the computer nerd do his thing,” Brett said.
“We could be wrong. What if Locke’s in on it?” Twink asked.
“If Locke wanted us dead, then Hult would have done it out in the dunes when he had the chance. He wouldn’t have brought us back here if he was in on it,” Jim said.
***
Samantha was on her side, clutching her stomach from laughing so hard.
“I’m serious. I ran through the entire dormitory butt-ass naked screaming that I was the Duke of Snatch. Surprisingly enough, I wasn’t very popular with the ladies that year. I shouldn’t have had that fifteenth beer,” Coyle said.
“You’ll make me wake up Annie,” Samantha said, slapping Coyle’s side. Samantha peeked up to look in the truck cabin’s window, and then she jolted up. Annie was gone. “Annie!”
Coyle ran around to the other side as Samantha checked under the truck bed.
“I don’t see her,” Samantha cried.
Her face was stricken with panic. Her head swiveled in all directions looking for her daughter.
“Look,” Coyle said.
A pair of small footprints led up and over one of the dunes. Samantha reached the top first, and all she could see were the rolling dunes in the distance leading to the camp in front of them. Coyle gasped for breath once he got to the top. “She went…to the camp? Why would she go back there?”
Samantha shook her head. “The cat.”
***
Annie was just outside the perimeters of the fence hiding on the other side of a large dune. She was spying on two soldiers who were outside the back of their tent. She spied a small hole in the fence she thought she could squeeze under, but it was right in front of where the soldiers were sitting. A third soldier came around the back and motioned for them to follow him. Annie waited until they were out of sight and then rushed down the hill and under the fence where she squeezed through the opening. She poked her head in the tent to see if anyone was inside. It was empty.
***
“It’s time,” Hult said.
Jim threw on a cap and wrapped a bandana around his mouth to help conceal his face. Jim handed Hult the hard drive before they left the tent.
They walked towards the building where Matt was being held. Only one guard was stationed at the front door entrance. Jim hung back as Hult walked up to him with a friendly smile and the two shook hands. He saw Hult slide the drive into the guard’s hand when they shook.
Hult came back over to where Jim stood next to a gas truck and nodded. “He’s got it. In ten minutes he’ll go in to check on him, then we’re on watch,” Hult said.
***
Samantha and Coyle crawled the last hundred feet as they got closer to the backside of the camp. The sun was sinking behind them as they peeked over the last dune before the chain link fence. Coyle pointed towards the small opening at the bottom.
“She probably went through there,” he said.
Samantha grabbed the pistol out of Coyle’s cargo pocket and tucked it under her shirt.
“What are you doing?” Coyle asked.
“Getting my daughter,” she replied.
She started to get up, but Coyle pulled her back down immediately. Two soldiers came back around the tent in front of the opening in the gate.
“Do you want to get yourself killed? Wait here,” Coyle said.
He crawled down the backside of the dune and took off at a run, keeping his head and body low. She watched him go about a hundred yards down and then stop. She heard him fire off a few rounds into the air. The two soldiers at the tent immediately started running towards the gunfire. Samantha glanced back down at Coyle, who had taken off at a sprint in the opposite direction. She checked the perimeter of the fence once more. Nobody was there. She took her chance and sprinted down towards the hole. The wires cut her deep along her back as she pulled herself inside the base.
***
Jim and Hult looked at each other when they heard the gunfire.
“The girls,” he whispered through the cloth of the bandana.
“We don’t know what that is. We have to finish this,” Hult said.
Hult signaled over to the guard, who nodded and went inside the door.
“We’re up,” Hult said.
***
Annie ducked under a tent when she heard the gunfire go off. Luckily it was empty, but it filled quickly with soldiers running in and grabbing their gear. She tucked herself under a cot that was in the corner and watched the boots scuttle around the floor as men shouted at each other. She heard a faint meowing over the sounds of the soldiers leaving. Once the last soldier had left, Annie darted towards the corner of the tent, following Tigs’s cries. She found her cage stacked up against a desk.
“Tigs! C’mon, let’s go find Dad,” she said.
***
Blood soaked through the back of Samantha’s shirt where the fence had scraped her. She knelt hidden behind a tank. She pulled the pistol out of her waistband and clicked the safety off. She crouched low while soldiers rushed past.
***
Matt could hear the sirens going off and the gunshots outside of his cell. Then his door flew open and the guard that Hult gave the drive to stormed into the cell and grabbed him.
“We don’t have a lot of time, but we both have a mutual friend,” the guard said.
The guard shoved the thumb drive into Matt’s hand and plopped him down in front of one of the computer terminals in the abandoned offices.
“Work fast,” the guard said.
Matt plugged the drive into the computer and pulled up the files. His fingers were swift on the keyboard. He entered code to debunk the encryption files to find the source of the code.
***
Hult stood in the corner of the building with Jim watching the door. Everyone was too preoccupied with the gunshots to worry about the data center now. Hult peeked around the corner as the sirens continued to wail.
“God help the asshole that started shooting at them,” Hult said.
***
Coyle was in a full sprint back to the truck and practically tripping over the sand dunes. “I swear if I die, I’m gonna be so pissed. I’m gonna come back and haunt the shit out of that stupid cat.”
***
Matt had multiple files up on the duel screen monitors. His eyes darted back and forth from different documents as lines of code filled the screen. The guard looked at them like they were a foreign language.
“What is that?” the guard asked.
“These are the final orders that were trying to get sent before the attacks,” Matt replied.
The guard walked over to the door to peek out the window. His back was to Matt.
“Well, just track whoever was going to send it,” the guard said.
Suddenly, a smashing blow collapsed the back of the guard’s skull. He fell to the ground instantly. Matt had struck him over the head with one of the monitors, and blood dripped from its corner.
“I’ll make sure they get to the right place,” Matt said, standing over the guard’s body.
He smiled and tossed the monitor on the ground. He then ripped off the man’s uniform and collected his weapons and ammo.
***
“He’s taking too long. He should be out of there by now,” Hult said.
Hult peeled around the corner towards the door and Jim followed. Hult swung the door open and saw the guard on the floor. He reached down to check his pulse. Jim entered as Hult sat cr
ouched on the ground next to the soldier. Matt entered the fray and glanced at the two men, a pistol aimed at both of them.
“Drop it,” Matt said.
“You son of a bitch,” Hult said.
Before Hult could reach for his pistol, Matt shot him through the head. The silencer muffled the blast and Hult’s body dropped to the floor.
“Matt…” Jim said.
“Where are the girls, Jim?”
The sirens continued to wail outside the building. The collection of blood from both Hult and the guard pooled at Jim’s feet as he glanced down at the two lifeless bodies.
“Jim,” Matt said.
Jim looked up at the pistol pointed in his direction. Matt’s eyes were a wild calm. There was blood splattered on his shirt and arm. Matt glanced down at the screens in front of him that were downloading a program. It was at thirty percent and rising.
“Where are the girls?” Matt asked again.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jim asked.
“My job. Now drop the gun.”
Matt motioned to the floor.
“Drop it!” Matt said.
Jim lowered the rifle. He rested it gently on the ground and slowly rose with his hands in the air.
“We’ve got less than ten minutes before this position gets uploaded and a missile strike is ordered that levels this entire camp, so I’ll ask one more time. Where is my family?” Matt asked.
***
Annie ran along behind a line of trucks parked next to the fence and ducked under them when she heard someone coming. Footsteps thumped close to her. She crawled further under a jeep right next to the front tire. Tigs squirmed as the feet appeared in front of Annie’s face. Tigs let out a meow and the feet stopped. They slowly backtracked until they were right in front of her, causing Annie to cover her mouth. She started to shake as the legs bent down and the person’s knees came into view.
“Annie, thank God,” Samantha said.
Samantha reached for Annie and helped pull her out from under the jeep. She immediately wrapped her daughter in her arms and kissed her forehead. Her joy soon gave way to anger as she gripped Annie’s arms tightly.
“What were you thinking?” Samantha asked.
“I didn’t want them to forget Tigs when they came to get Daddy.”
The cat crawled out from beneath the jeep and meowed up at the two of them.
“Come on,” she said.
***
Jim stood frozen at the door next to the two dead bodies at his feet. It just didn’t make any sense in his mind. Matt glanced down at his watch.
“Eight minutes, Jim,” Matt said.
“Just turn it off, Matt. I don’t know who’s making you do this, but--”
“Making me do this? No one is making me do anything, Jim. This is my choice. This is what I was trained for.” Matt sidestepped around the desk and slowly began to walk towards Jim while he spoke. “We were able to strike at every major city in unison while leveling the biggest logistical military base on the West Coast. We made the largest military force in the world look like fools.”
Jim’s breathing became sharper. Sweat beaded on his forehead. Matt was less than six feet away from him now. “Innocent people died, Matt.”
Matt’s face became distorted with rage. Spit flew from his mouth as he spoke. “Innocent? I would kill a million innocent people if it meant keeping my family safe.”
“You want your family safe? Shut the program down,” Jim said.
Matt gripped the pistol tighter and walked closer. The gun was less than an inch from Jim’s forehead. Jim’s eyes didn’t leave Matt’s. Matt was shaking now.
“Don’t do this, Matt,” Jim said.
Matt pushed the barrel into Jim’s forehead. His finger was on the trigger. His knuckles turned white against the gun’s black grip.
The door flung open as Samantha walked in with Annie following behind her, Tigs in her arms. Samantha’s eyes went straight to the gun in Matt’s hand. Annie started to cry as she looked at the men lying on the ground surrounded by a pool of blood.
“Samantha, get behind me,” Matt ordered.
“Matt, what are you doing?” she gasped.
“Now, Samantha!” Matt shouted.
She stepped over the bodies and moved behind Matt, Annie following her every move.
“Move, Jim,” Matt said.
Jim complied.
“Matt, what’s happening?” Samantha asked.
“It’s fine, Sammy. Just do what he tells you.” Jim said. “Annie, you take care of Tigs for me, okay?”
She nodded and held the cat close.
“I’ll see you guys real soon,” Jim said.
“No, you won’t.” Matt brought the handle of the pistol across Jim’s face, knocking him on the ground. Samantha screamed and, as a result, Annie began to cry while Tigs meowed incessantly.
Matt took a look out of the door. Men were scattered from the sound of the sirens still blaring in the background. He grabbed Samantha’s hand and rushed out the door.
A jeep sat idle next to the fuel truck and Matt climbed into it. Samantha stood motionless and afraid. “Get in!” Matt shouted.
Samantha clutched Annie in her arms. Matt crawled across the seat and held her face in his hands gently. “Do you trust me?” Matt asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
Matt flung the door open and Samantha climbed in with Annie and Tigs.
***
Brett and Twink burst through the door of the room to find Jim lying on the ground as Brett put his finger on his neck to check for a pulse.
“Jim,” Brett said. Brett slapped Jim hard across the face.
“Wake up!” Brett said.
Jim jolted up. He felt the trickle of blood fall onto his lips from the cut across his face. He slowly got up with Brett’s help.
“What the hell happened?” Brett asked.
Jim’s hand slowly rose to his temple as he tried to gather the thoughts of what had just happened. The words felt foreign as they slipped out of his mouth.
“It was Matt,” he said.
“What?” Brett asked.
Jim glanced over to the computer. The files.” Jim rushed to the monitors where Matt had been working. There was an upload bar spread across the screen. It was at sixty-seven percent.
“I’m guessing this is bad,” Brett said.
Jim tried to hit a few keystrokes, but the keyboard was locked. He couldn’t move anything, not even the mouse. Anytime he tried, an encryption code popped up on the screen.
“It’s an algorithm,” Twink said. He pushed Jim out of the way and dropped into the chair. “He put an algorithm encryption so we can’t stop the files from being sent.”
“Can’t we cut the hard lines?” Brett asked.
Twink shook his head. “No, the connection is coming from the location where the files are being sent. Even if we cut it, they’d still get the info,” Twink said.
“This whole camp is going to be leveled if you don’t stop that file from being sent. If you can’t shut it down before it gets to ninety-five percent, get the hell out of here.”
***
Matt drove wildly through the camp as soldiers screamed profanities back at him after being nearly hit. Samantha gathered her reserve to argue back with her husband.
“What the hell is going on, Matthew?” she demanded.
“Jim lied to you, Sam. He wasn’t on a mission to help me. He was on a mission to kill me.”
“What? Matt, that doesn’t make any sense,” she said.
Jim’s jeep roared down the road as he tried to gain on Matt. He was closer now. He shifted gears and cut through a narrow path between a pair of tents on the side and started to head towards the perimeter.
***
The loading bar inched up to eighty-five percent as Twink tried different combos of numbers into the encryption bar. He had pulled out a laptop and connected it to the tower that Matt had used. Twink opened a program and started typi
ng code, which fed into the other monitors.
“I don’t think it’s working, Twink,” Brett said as the loading bar inched up to eighty-six percent.
***