by Mark Goodwin
He took solace in the fact that Courtney would be with him. They would be starting a new life, and it would be a life together. Everett shook off the sense of loss of his old life and the romantic notions he was having about the life to come, so he could focus on the moment. The news was reporting yet another explosion in a building that held several federal agencies in Atlanta.
Courtney should have called by now. Better give her a ring.
“Hey, I’m on the way.”
Everett sipped his coffee. “How far out are you?”
“I just left. It took me a while to get out of the house. You know I might never be back. I kinda got stuck looking through all of my stuff. I guess I should have done that earlier. Traffic is getting thick. Did you hear about LAX and Atlanta?”
“Yeah, I heard. And I understand. I was sitting here thinking about walking away from my whole life as well.”
“Did you talk to Ken and Lisa?”
“I did. They’re going to the cabin. I had to hold Ken’s hand, which I didn’t want to do over the phone. I should have bought him a burner.”
“Are they leaving right away?”
“I told them to hurry, but they’re human. I’m sure they’ll have to go through their things one last time to make sure they have everything that’s important.”
“Yeah, and we sort of have to say goodbye to our old way of life. That’s the scary part. Love it or hate it, it was the life we knew. And we’re leaving it for the complete unknown.”
“Oh no!” Everett moaned.
“What is it?”
“The television is saying that the White House was just attacked! Where are you right now?”
“I’m on the Beltway; I just passed the Kensington exit.”
“Get off the Beltway right now! If there’s an attack on DC, they’ll shut down everything!”
“And go where?”
“North. Just get away from Washington!”
“North is the other direction from you.”
“Take a detour.”
“Okay. I’ll get off onto 270 north.”
“No, no highways. Isn’t there a local road at that exit?”
“Um, yeah. Rockville Pike I think.”
“Get off there. I’ll look it up on the map while you drive and guide you here.”
“Traffic is almost completely stopped. I bet they already closed the exit.”
“Listen, if the phones go dead, stay where you are, and I’ll come get you. If the exit reopens, get off, head north, and stop at the first gas station on Rockville Pike. DHS might hit the kill switch on the Internet and phones, so they can stop communications between the cells committing the attacks.”
“Traffic has come to a complete stop. I thought Jones said this would be a government-controlled event. Why would they bother to shut down the phones?”
“He said it would be elements inside the government. Remember, we’re talking about a handful of people who might know what’s really going on. Even most top-level decision makers are completely in the dark. I’m leaving right now. I’m going to keep you on the line, so we have the best chance of maintaining our connection.”
Courtney sighed. “I’m so sorry. If I would have left by 7:15, I would be off the Beltway and almost to your house by now.”
Everett grabbed his backpack and shut the door behind him as he sprinted down the stairs to his car. “Courtney, you cannot blame yourself. There was no way to know DC would be attacked.”
“Another bomb just went off at the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station. Please hurry, Everett. This is like a tidal wave of terrorism. I’m really scared.”
Everett sped out of his parking lot. “I’m on my way. We’re all scared. This is a frightening situation. The important thing is to stay focused and not panic. We’ve been trained to think under pressure, and that’s what we have to do to survive the next couple of hours. As soon as we get to the cabin, we can relax.”
“Alright, thanks. I’m lucky to have met you.”
Courtney had never said anything like that to Everett before. He glowed inside, even in the midst of the chaos. He was glad to be playing the part of the hero, at least for Courtney. “I’m the lucky one.”
Everett had to drive twenty miles north to avoid getting inside the Beltway to cross the Potomac. Courtney’s location was only about thirty miles away, but his alternate route would nearly double the distance he had to travel. Everett pushed the speed limit and blew through yellow lights. “I should be there in thirty or forty minutes.”
“Don’t get pulled over.”
“They’d have to catch me first.”
“Then what?”
“I’ve got my work credentials.”
“Yeah? What good is your IT badge going to do you if you get pulled over for speeding?”
“Have you seen my credentials?”
“No.”
“They’re agency issue. IT is a cutout; it’s not a sub-contractor. I might not have your clearance level, but I do have a Company ID.”
“How did I not know that?”
“You never asked.” Everett shot up US 15 at over 100 miles per hour. He passed the other cars like they were sitting still.
“Are you listening to the radio?”
“No. I’ve got you on speaker so I can drive.”
“The Chicago Mercantile Building was just bombed. Hold on.” Courtney was quiet for a moment.
Everett stayed focused as he drove.
Finally, Courtney spoke again. “And a string of refineries on the Gulf Coast.”
Everett crossed the Potomac and headed back south on State Road 85. “That will hurt. Everything else is just to make people panic, but taking out refineries seriously affects our infrastructure.”
State Road 85 was a rural road, so Everett maintained his heavy-footed driving until he hit Rockville Pike southbound. Since the 495 Beltway heading into DC was closed off, the traffic that would have gotten on the interstate was in complete gridlock. “Courtney, I’m about five miles out, but the Beltway is a parking lot. No one is moving.”
“Can you drive through the neighborhoods?”
Everett checked the GPS map on his phone. “If I can get back onto 85, it looks like I should be able to. Good call. What’s the situation with traffic on the Beltway? Are you moving at all?”
“Not a bit. People have shut their engines off and are standing outside of their cars.”
Everett worked his way over to the left hand turn lane and made a U-turn. Soon he was back on 85 and then into the neighborhood. He navigated south through the maze of residential streets toward Courtney’s location. “Are you closer to the Kensington exit or the Rockville Pike exit?”
“I’d say about halfway in-between.”
“Can you walk over to the shoulder and look over?”
“Okay.”
Everett kept driving as he waited for her reply.
Courtney said, “Okay, I’m on the shoulder looking over.”
“Do you see a road going under the Beltway?”
“Yeah, it’s like a little bridge going over a creek.”
“Perfect. I know right where you are. That’s Cedar Lane. I can drive straight up Beach Drive and be right underneath you. Start getting your things together.”
“Really? Thank you so much! I love you!”
Everett’s heart almost stopped. Was that “I love you” as in “thanks for rescuing me” or “I love you” as in “I’ve felt this way for a while and I have to tell you right now”? He was sure he loved her, but how was he supposed to respond? If he said, “I love you too,” and she hadn’t meant it that way, things would be awkward. If she did mean it that way, and he didn’t say it back, it would be awkward. This was a lose-lose situation. Why had she said it like that? Everett quickly calculated his response. As playfully as possible he said, “And of course I love you too, or I wouldn’t be risking my neck to come get you.”
Courtney didn’t say anything. What was that? Had he made i
t sound like she owed him? Everett thought to himself, Stay focused. You can’t go off on this rabbit trail. There will be plenty of time to feel awkward and talk about emotional matters when you get out of this situation. First, we have to stay alive.
Everett pulled to the side of the road on Beach just before it intersected with Cedar Lane. It was a side street with very little traffic. Still, he didn’t feel comfortable leaving his cash and bullion coins unattended. He grabbed his backpack and slung it over his arms, walked over Cedar as it crossed the creek, climbed over the guard wall, and scaled up the incline to the Beltway. Courtney was already out of her car and waiting. He made eye contact and waved to her.
She smiled broadly and waved back. He worked his way between the cars and helped Courtney retrieve as many of her belongings as possible from the car.
She pulled out her rifle case. “Think anyone will say something about this? I don’t want to start a panic.”
Everett shrugged. “We need it, so they’ll just have to deal with it.”
“I’ve got three boxes of ammo in the trunk. We can’t carry everything in one trip.”
“Okay, we’ll come back. You can’t get down that hill in those shoes.”
Courtney quickly retrieved her tennis shoes from one of the bags and slipped them on. She then followed Everett as he scaled back down the embankment to the bridge, which ran under the Beltway. Everett arranged the contents of his trunk to accommodate Courtney’s items as she handed them to him.
“Let’s go get the rest.”
When they got back up the hill to the Interstate, a man had gotten out of his car and was standing by Courtney’s car. “You can’t just leave this here. It’ll block traffic.”
Everett took his CIA credentials out and held them close enough for the man to see the official insignia. He also made sure the butt of his gun was visible. “Official business, walk away.”
The man glanced warily at Everett’s gun and returned to his car.
Courtney looked down at the pavement to conceal her smile. She and Everett collected the remaining cargo from her vehicle and hauled it back down to Everett’s BMW.
Once they were in the car, she leaned over to kiss him. “That was good work, Agent Carol.”
Everett smiled. He was glad to see there was no uneasiness over the previous I-love-you exchange. “I’m not an agent.”
Courtney laughed. “That guy up there thought you were.”
Everett started back up Beach Drive and toward the entanglement of residential roads. “Sorry you had to abandon your car.”
“Don’t worry about it. Ken and Lisa are both bringing a car. Four cars at the cabin would draw a lot of attention. Besides, it was a lease. Hey, do you have anything in the car to snack on? I haven’t eaten anything since I woke up.”
“No, I thought about that when I left, but I didn’t have anything except condiments in my fridge. As soon as we get through Rockville, I’ll stop somewhere with a mini mart. I want to fill up the tank before people start panicking over gas. Once the news gets out about those refineries, there are going to be riots at the pumps.”
Courtney looked at her phone. “I just got a text from work. It says to stay home.”
“Yeah, why would they need NSA contractors when we’re looking for the perpetrators of the biggest terror attack in history?”
Everett’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen. “Or CIA analysts. I just got the same text.”
Courtney sat back in her seat. “The people at the top have already picked the patsies they’re going to pin this on. If they let us start digging around, they’d have to deal with any inconvenient data we might find.”
Everett nodded as he looked straight ahead at the road. “It’s much easier to just sideline us.”
They soon sped through Rockville and reached the rural portion of the drive. Everett breathed a deep sigh of relief. “Keep your eye open for a gas station.”
Neither said much for the next twenty miles; instead, they both listened to the reports of the carnage sweeping across America. Just before they crossed over into Virginia from Maryland, Courtney pointed. “There’s an Exxon with a mini mart on the other side of the tracks!”
Everett pulled in. The small station had several cars getting gas. There were no lines, but it was probably busier than usual for the little country filling station.
Courtney got out. “What do you want to eat?”
Everett popped open the gas tank cover and got out. “I don’t know what my options are.”
“Oh, it’s all gourmet. They probably have powdered sugar donuts, honey buns, microwaved sausage and biscuits, that sort of thing.”
Everett began fueling. “I’ll take whatever you get.”
“And black coffee?”
“No, put something in it to make it not taste like gas station coffee. If they have flavored creamers, great. If not, lots of cream and sugar.”
Everett topped off his tank just as Courtney reappeared from the front door of the station. “Wow. That’s a pretty big haul. Are you starving?”
Courtney had powdered sugar on her lips from the donuts. “Not really, but I don’t know if we’ll have access to this type of stuff much longer.”
“There’s a little store in Woodstock. Hopefully we’ll be able to go there until things completely fall apart.” Everett took his coffee from Courtney and opened the door for her.
Courtney shrugged and got in the car. “Maybe, but once the panic starts, it might not be safe to be out. Besides, if it’s like Jones said, credit and debit cards might not be working much longer.”
Everett considered that statement. “You’re right. I’m going to go grab a few things. Be right back.”
Everett went into the small store and bought several bags of chips, a bunch of candy bars, some beef jerky, and some canned nuts. He brought his load to the car and fitted it into the already-tightly-packed back seat.
The two travelers were promptly back on the road. Courtney took out her phone. “We still have service. I’m going to call Lisa and see if they’re at the cabin yet.”
Everett lowered his brow. “I hope they take their batteries out of their phones before they go to the cabin. I don’t want that location pinged from a cell tower.”
Courtney had already started the call. “Hey. Are you at the spot?”
Everett waited for Courtney to relay Ken and Lisa’s position.
“Make sure you take the battery out of your phone before you get there . . . like when you’re ten miles out.”
Courtney was quiet for a minute. “No, I got caught in traffic, so we’re running late also. I’ll tell you all about it when we get there.” She paused as Lisa responded. “Okay. Be safe, and hurry up! The roads are going to get worse.”
Courtney clicked off the call. “They still haven’t left yet.”
Everett rolled his eyes. “It’s almost nine o’clock. What have they been doing?”
“Arguing over what to take and what to leave.”
“They both have a vehicle. Ken should fill his with his stuff, and Lisa could do the same.”
“They like to complicate things. That would be too simple a solution.”
“You should text them and tell them to avoid the Interstate . . . and remind them to get gas right away. I’m sure the explosion at the refineries is going to start a panic.”
Courtney started texting. “I’ll let them know.”
She put her phone back in her jacket pocket. “How long will it take us to get there from here?”
“Less than an hour if we don’t hit any snags.”
They drove west through the Virginia countryside and saw relatively few other cars on State Road 7.
Courtney peered out the window. “It’s hard to believe something like this can exist so close to DC. How far away do you think we are from there now?”
Everett shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe thirty-five miles.”
Twenty minutes later they drove through the town of
Winchester. Courtney gasped. “How cute! This place looks like something out of an old movie! It’s so clean and well-kept. I never want to go back. After things get back to normal, I want to live somewhere like this.”
“If things get back to normal. But I agree, this is a nice place. Ashburn was much nicer than DC, but you’re right; this place looks like something out of a movie. Whoa, look at the line forming at that gas station.”
Courtney turned her attention to the row of cars. “I guess the panic has started. But even so, they all seem to be waiting patiently for their turn. If you had a line like that in DC, people would be yelling and honking their horns.”
Everett chuckled. “Or shooting each other.”
They turned south on US 11, which ran parallel to Interstate 81 all the way to Woodstock. They passed through Winchester and were back into a long stretch of rural area. Fifteen minutes later, they were approaching Woodstock. Everett said, “Better text Lisa and tell her we’re here. Let them know the phones will be out of service, so if they get in a bad spot, they should leave a message. If they aren’t here by lunch, we can go back into town to check the messages, but we’ll be limited on what we can do if they get in a jam because they waited too long to leave.”
Courtney took out her phone. “I’ll tell them.”
“The line at that gas station isn’t too bad. I’m going to fill up before we go to the cabin.”
Courtney kept texting. “Sounds like a plan.”
As they pulled up to the line of cars, Courtney stowed her phone in her pocket. “I’m going to run in and buy some more junk food. The thought of riding out the apocalypse with no powdered sugar donuts just hit me.”
“Where are you going to put them? The trunk is packed. So is the back seat.”
“I can hold them in my lap. We’re almost to the cabin.”
“Okay. I’ll be here.”
Forty minutes later, they were through the line with a selection of donuts and other assorted junk-food items, gassed up, and back on the road. From there, it was a short drive to the cabin.