The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series

by Jacqueline Druga

  “Hi, Frank,” Henry spoke nervously. “I know ... I know this isn’t a good time. But, can I come in?”

  Had Henry not been holding Nick in his arms, Frank would have said ‘no’. He didn’t answer he only opened the door wider. “What’s up, Henry?”

  “It’s Nick. I can’t ... I can’t get him to calm down, Frank. Look at him, he’s fussing.. I think. I think he just wants you.”

  Frank reached out his hands to the whimpering baby, lifting him from Henry and taking him into his arms. The moment Nick touched Frank’s chest was the moment Frank gasped, felt his legs weaken and he had to sit down. He held Nick so tight, the small baby got lost in his arms. He ran his lips over Nick’s head, closing his eyes. “He’s usually sleeping by now. Did you feed him, Henry?”

  “What?”

  From his hold of Nick, Frank raised his eyes. “Feed him. Food?”

  “Um ... I think.”

  “You think?”

  “Well ... yeah, of course I did. I just don’t remember when.”

  “It’s almost midnight, Henry. Was it dark out when you fed him last.”

  “Oh no, Frank. It was still light. I wouldn’t want to feed him too close to his bedtime and have him get a stomachache.”

  “Henry. He’s needs to eat. That’s why he’s still awake.”

  “Oh. OK.” Henry reached for the baby.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’ll take him home and feed him.”

  “No.” Frank held Nick tighter. “Just ... just go home and get me a bottle. I don’t have any fresh ones. I’ll feed him. I want him fed right.”

  “Are you sure, Frank? I don’t want to bother you.”

  “I’m sure, Henry. Go.”

  “Thanks.” Henry darted toward the door.

  “And, Henry?”

  “Yeah, Frank?” Henry opened the door.

  “Thank you. Thank you very much.” Frank didn’t see the smile Henry gave him, he was too engrossed with getting comfortable on the couch. He brought his legs up to the cushion and he just held Nick. And more than he realized, he needed to do that.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  AUGUST 24

  The mounds of dirt were still high and fresh, laying in a row in a part of Beginnings that used to be underdeveloped. Far from the Living Section, they placed it. Beginnings’ first cemetery. There were fifteen graves all together. Nine of them belonged to children. Six adults. Beginnings suffered a loss. The loss of talent and devotion that the adults gave to the community. And the loss of life and laughter that children brought to everyone. Their graves were marked with simple crosses. Wooden crosses. The names of those lost burned in an etch upon them. A fence was erected around the graves, flowers draped over them from the daily visitors that walked out there just for a moment, to feel those they lost. On the fence was a plaque. It simply read:

  For those who lost their lives in the battle for Beginnings.

  May they forever find a resting place within these walls they had called their home.

  Frank read the words, like he did every day since Brian was buried there four days earlier. But was his timing off on this day? He was surprised to see he wasn’t the only one there visiting Brian. And it was the first time since the burial that Frank saw Dean there. Quietly Frank walked up to him as Dean sat on the ground staring at the grave, and he sat on the ground next to Dean.

  Dean moved his hair from his eyes, that the wind had blown. “I’ll leave, Frank.”

  “Why?”

  “I know you want to be alone out here.”

  “That’s OK.” Frank brought this knees up. “I’ve never seen you come out here, Dean.”

  Dean gave a soft chuckle. “I’m here every day, Frank.”

  “Me too.”

  “I know it might make you angry to hear this. But I’m not trying to take anything away from you. I just miss him, Frank. I really miss, Brian.”

  “I miss him too, Dean. And you’re not taking anything away from me.” Frank looked at him, Dean’s head hung low. “I know you loved him. And I would have to be pretty cold to think you’re not feeling this too.”

  “I can’t get passed this. I keep thinking, what could I have done? What could I have changed?”

  “I do the same thing.”

  “I keep thinking we missed something. Something went wrong. We should have been able to save him. We should have had the antidote sooner. A piece is missing, Frank. Something is missing.”

  “Do you feel that?”

  Dean nodded strongly. “Yes. In my gut I feel that. And a part of me is justifying that as a way to put the blame elsewhere. Blame someone else for me not being fast enough. I don’t know.”

  “Were gonna go into our minds for the rest of our lives searching for the answers to this. But maybe, Dean, maybe it was just out of our hands. Maybe those who were supposed to go on, did.”

  “Thinking like that doesn’t make the pain go away.”

  “Oh, I know that.” Frank’s hand reached out to the grave and he lifted the dirt.

  “I’d better be going back. I have to pick up the kids. Thanks for not ... I don’t know, making me leave.”

  “Dean,” Frank called out before Dean stood up. “You and I raised Brian. Don’t think for one second, that I have forgotten that he was just as much your son as he was mine. We made that agreement and I lived by that. And I’m sorry, Dean. I’m sorry you lost your son too.”

  Dean’s heart dropped along with his body and he just couldn’t stand up. “You don’t know how much that means to hear you say that.”

  “I think ... I think you and I have this common ground now, Dean. More than we ever had before. If you have to leave, OK, but right now, it wouldn’t bother me at all if you stayed.”

  Dean stared at Frank for a moment, he reached his hand up laying it on Frank’s hand. And to his surprise Frank brought his other hand up and covered Dean’s. There was an unspoken understanding right there between the two of them, as if to say. It was their spot, their time, and their grief over the loss of their son.

  <><><><>

  Ellen looked up from her desk in Containment to the soft knocking on the door. Such an apprehensive knock it was, Ellen merely called out softly, “Come in.”

  “This may not be a good time.” Jenny walked in. “But I wanted to see you.”

  “What’s up?” Ellen asked, pointing to a chair for Jenny to sit.

  So sadly Jenny took a seat. “I was going through Caroline’s things to return to storage, and I found a few things of Brian’s.”

  Ellen’s head dropped.

  “Those babies were always together, Ellen. And I want to give you Brian’s things back. But a part of me can’t. I can’t remove anything from my house that is a part of Caroline and Brian was a part of Caroline.”

  “I know,” Ellen spoke near whisper. “I can’t even bring myself to look at his things. I can’t go into his room ... look at his toys.”

  “It hurts so much. You know Jenny, it’s odd isn’t it. I was at the cemetery today. And I looked at their graves. Have you looked? Have you noticed?”

  Jenny nodded. “They were born and died on the same day.”

  “Both of them came into this world within minutes of each other and they left this world within minutes of each other. Why do you suppose that is?”

  “I have a story in mind I keep telling myself about that. It helps. Can I share it with you?”

  “Please.”

  “Brian and Caroline were angels. And God knew how much that we needed them in our lives. But see, they were partners up there, little soul mates. And one said, ‘I won’t go without the other’. So God sent them both. At the same time, the same day, because they couldn’t be apart. And when they were called to come home. They couldn’t be apart then either. And maybe only one of them was destined to leave this earth. But the other one said ‘I won’t go without the other’. And they joined their little hands and they’re together again, looking down at us
, knowing that they gave us life and meaning, if only for a little while.”

  “And they did their jobs well, didn’t they?”

  “Oh they did their jobs great. And you know what, I made myself a promise. I promised myself that I would not get angry for not having Caroline longer, I would be happy for having her at all.”

  Ellen looked up at Jenny, though the sadness was there, there was a certain peacefulness upon Jenny’s face. And Ellen hoped that she could remember the words that Jenny had just told her. And for as much as Ellen didn’t want to be and feel like Jenny when she saw her in that room holding the daughter she had just lost, Ellen wanted to be and feel like her now.

  <><><><>

  Where was Frank? Henry wondered. If he didn’t hurry he was going to miss it. The first set-up, the finding of George. Henry held Joe off, making him wait until he could locate Frank. And Henry searched, he searched everywhere he thought Frank could be until he finally found him at home.

  “Frank.” Henry walked softly into the child’s bedroom where Frank sat. “We need you in Communications.”

  “I was on my way. I had to change. Oil from the truck.” Frank shrugged as he sat in a chair in front of Brian’s crib, staring in it. “I guess I just got held up.”

  “I understand.” Henry moved to him.

  “Do you?” Frank looked up at him. “Because I don’t even understand it myself. Sometimes I pass this crib and still see him in there. I still smell him, Henry, on his blanket. And nothing is making it go away. I’m not getting any better.”

  “You need more time, Frank.” Henry laid his hand on Frank’s back. “You lost your son.” Henry stepped closer. “Maybe all of this isn’t good for you. Maybe you just need to take some time and step back.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You’re still hurting and you will for a while. But maybe while the hurt is still so fresh, you need not to look at everything and everywhere that reminds you of Brian.”

  “How can I not. I live in this house.”

  “Don’t,” Henry stated then received an odd look from Frank. “I’m not talking forever, Frank. I’m talking a few days, maybe even a week or so. But get out of this house. Go somewhere else. Take my house if you’d like. Hell, maybe even pitch a tent somewhere and hang out. Take Ellen, perhaps that’s what you both need.”

  “Pitch a tent?” Frank asked.

  “Oh sure. We have all this land. Seclude yourself. Heal.”

  “Like a vacation.” Frank’s eyes lit up. “You may have a good idea.”

  “You know I’m the idea man, Frank.”

  “Yeah but ...” Frank released Brian’s blanket. “El wouldn’t go for it.”

  “Tell her she has to.”

  “But what about the kids?”

  “They’ll be fine. How far can you take her, really.”

  “Not far.”

  “Exactly.” Henry nodded.

  “Pitch a tent. Seclusion.” Frank stood up. “Thanks, Henry. I might just do that. What do you think about taking El and surprising her with it.”

  Henry crinkled his face. “I don’t know, Frank. You should talk to her first about it.”

  “We’ll see what the moment brings right? But I do know.” Frank looked around the room. “I need to get away from this house for little while. At this point in my life, it hurts too bad.”

  “I know that.” Henry laid his hand on Frank’s back as they walked out. “Did you want me to find you a spot. I have some great ideas.”

  “No, I think I know where I want to go. Thanks, Henry. Let’s get to that meeting.”

  Henry was glad his on-the-spot suggestion was helping Frank. And where ever he took Ellen, the Underdeveloped Section, the area near the cliff, or maybe even ‘the hill’ wherever it was, Henry was certain it would help both Frank and Ellen.

  <><><><>

  They were in the Communications room. John Matoose sat in a chair, holding a telephone. Joe stood behind John, a earphone in his ear to eavesdrop. Frank stood watching the indicating screen, waiting for John to place the call so they could get an exact location on George. Henry stood by the computer, he turned off the signal alarms and he just waited to read where the signal would come from.

  There was one more man in the room. A man by the name of Jess Boyan. He was a defector, he gained a sense of Joe’s trust during the recent virus crisis. And he was there to say whether or not, John was calling the main headquarters. A trust assurance, Joe called him. John had lost all of Joe’s trust and at that second, Joe wouldn’t put it past John to lie again.

  “Make the call,” Joe told John.

  John took a deep breath and dialed, bringing the phone to his ear, he looked at Frank. “It’s ringing.”

  George answered the phone, and when he did, Joe looked up, snapping his finger to Henry to get ready.

  “Hello,” George said gruff.

  “George, it’s ...”

  “Don’t you dare call me again, or my personal line, you hear. I’m finished with you. Finished.” George disconnected the call immediately.

  Joe still looked at John and he took off the earphone from his ear harshly. “Did we get it?”

  Frank only pointed to the flash on the board. “We got it.” He turned to Henry. “Where is it coming from, we know the east.”

  “South of Washington D.C. it says.” Henry looked up with question on his face. “Quantico Marine Headquarters, Frank.”

  Frank’s eyes widened. “That place is huge.” He faced Jess. “Is that where you were at?”

  “I guess. I know it was near D.C., big place. But, Frank, that’s not his only site, I don’t know where the other ones are, but I know there were several divisions.”

  Frank shrugged. “Yeah but if we take out Quantico, take out the heart, we dismantle the whole being.”

  “How?” Joe asked. “We don’t have the air abilities to fly all the way over there. Ground troops, storm in?”

  Frank nodded. “A few soldiers, scientists, right amount of men, we can do that.”

  Jess had to disagree and he did it verbally. “You haven’t a clue, do you. You can’t storm the place with troops. There aren’t just a few soldiers and scientists. Hell it’s a city. You’re talking from what I have seen ... you’re talking tens of thousands.”

  “Dear God,” Joe gasped when he heard what Jess had to say. Words he felt he had to believe. “How big is this thing we’re up against?” With that thought Joe sat down and another immediately crossed his mind. With the size that George had grown and all the places he supposedly had, how did Beginnings survive this long?

  <><><><>

  George put down the antenna on his cellular phone. More like slammed it down. It was bad timing on John Matoose’s part to call him right then and there. George stood on the street of Quantico looking at the forty-one men who stood before him. That was it. That was all that remained of is four hundred and seventy men he had sent to Beginnings. And he only had them because these were the ones that ran when they heard the helicopters coming.

  Having been informed by them that twenty-eight defected, one of which they shot, George grew even more angrier. Not only did Beginnings beat his virus, but they now had some of his men. So much like the villain at the end of a Scooby-Doo episode, George felt. Wanting to say he would have gotten away with it had it not been for those pesky kids. And to him, Dean was the biggest pesky kid. But he was a pesky kid that George now wanted on his side of the country. And he knew he could only get Dean if he got Beginnings.

  A battle lost. A war not over. Not by a long shot. And if George wanted Beginnings back, and the assets that it had, he would have to go back to his square one plan of thinking. That was his best chance. And probably his easiest. George’s mind immediately went back into action thinking of how he would pull it off. He was certain he could do it. There would be no chemicals. No firearms, no virus or destruction. He knew he would get back Beginnings and he was going to do it ... from within their very own wa
lls.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  AUGUST 26

  Henry looked up from the where he lay on his living room floor when he heard Ellen coming down the steps. He rolled to his side, a little away from Nick who laid with him to look at her. “You leaving?”

  “Yes. Look how cute Nick is.”

  “Check this out, El. He’s doing things. Look he can lift his head.” Henry indicated to Nick. Nick turned with a strained face as he lifted his head, then it quickly plopped back down. “Maybe not.”

  Ellen chuckled. “Give him time.”

  “I think he was talking, El.”

  “Henry, he’s two months old. He’s not talking.”

  “Why do you suppose he can’t keep his head up. Is it too heavy for his body. It doesn’t look like he has a big head. But then again they say people with big heads are smarter. Does Dean have a big head?”

  “No. Just unkempt hair.”

  “I’ve made a suggestion to him you know.”

  “So have I.” Just as Ellen lowered herself to the floor, there was a knock at the door. “Must be Frank.”

  Henry looked at his watch. “He’s early.”

  “I think he wants to call it an early night.” Ellen walked to the door. “He said something about getting an early start.” She opened it and smiled when she saw Frank standing there. He didn’t dress like his typical self. Instead of his usual military pants and white tee shit, he wore a black tee shirt and jeans. “My goodness, Frank. Out of uniform?”

  “Yeah, they’re my date clothes.”

  Ellen shook her head with a smile and opened the door wider.

  Frank stepped inside. “Hey, Henry.”

  Henry rolled onto his stomach and then to his knees. “Before you take her, Frank. Can I talk to her for a second?”