From Within

by Brian Delaney

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Marcus sat in the back of a Humvee next to Blake. He turned to his right to watch the cafe pass by. He thought for only a fleeting moment that he would suggest a quick stop for coffee or a bite to eat. He would have had to make the suggestion prior to reaching the town. He would have needed a better excuse beforehand as well. Perhaps something about asking locals if they knew of the supply chain issue. Of course they wouldn’t have, it was a product of Marcus’s imagination. The cafe was already behind them. It would look desperate at this point to try to get them to turn around. Marcus settled back in his seat. He placed a hand on the breast pocket of his suit jacket, feeling the memory stick. He would have to be sure to figure out a way to stop on the way back to the camp.

  Marcus focused on the Humvee. He was sure that only months earlier this vehicle was used exclusively by the United States Military. The vehicle along with every part meticulously accounted for. He knew that every single item owned by the government had a stamp or sticker indicating the owning agency and the part number. He had done a story once before on the steps used by the government to keep track of everything it owned. Marcus remembered being impressed by how well the government accomplished this task. Now, how many of those items such as this Humvee were in the possession of this new government-created corporation? This vehicle now being driven by some random corporate employee who wore some strange-looking military-like uniform.

  “So, you think this maintenance facility is how we figure out if anything is going on?” Kenneth asked.

  “I’m sure of it,” Marcus answered. “If there are any issues, the news will show up there.”

  Kenneth had called around before they left to see what he could find out about this ‘supply issue’. His calls brought him no information. Marcus had hoped that was the case. He didn’t want Kenneth to get a report of something minor, such as a slightly delayed truck, and then call off their excursion so they wouldn’t waste time on a worthless story. He needed to get to the cafe.

  They arrived at the maintenance facility a little over thirty minutes after leaving the camp. They found the man in charge. He was a rugged-looking, middle-aged man. He looked like he led a rough life that aged his body an extra ten years which would explain his haggard appearance. He became somewhat defensive after hearing the questions of the ‘issue’, most presumably because he thought they were there to blame and question him. Marcus assured him they were there only to gather information. He told him that they were doing a story on how the CMA moved goods around the region and country and thought it would be good to see how problems were handled as well. The man seemed to think for a moment.

  “We had a truck break down last night,” he said. “It happens all the time, though. We sent out a tow this morning. The truck is here in the shop.” He motioned further inside the garage. “The trailer, however, is back on the road. It’s fairly common. Not something I’d expect to see in the news.” He said it almost as a suggestion.

  “Well, sir,” Marcus said, “perhaps we will turn it into a story on the efficiency and expediency of your shop here.” Marcus smiled widely. “Nothing wrong with a feel-good story.” Marcus turned to Kenneth, “That must’ve been what I overheard people talking about this morning.”

  “What?” Kenneth asked in an annoyed manner. “A single truck going into the shop?

  “What else were you going to do today?” Marcus asked with a wry smile.

  “Whatever,” Kenneth said. “I guess we can come of with something since we are out here. Like you said, a feel-good story.”

  “That’s the ol’ investigative reporter I remember,” Marcus said in a sarcastic tone.

  They filmed a few scenes around the facility. They interviewed the crotchety foreman. Marcus gave a wonderful speech for the camera about the shop as if he really knew something about the place. They loaded back into the Humvee and set off back for the camp. Marcus still hadn’t come up with something decent to make them stop. His mind was racing now trying to think of a reason. As they approached the outskirts of the small town, Marcus considered an idea similar to what brought them all the way to the maintenance facility. He went for it.

  “I was thinking Ken,” Marcus began.

  “That’s never good,” Kenneth interrupted. He shifted in the seat so he could see Marcus more easily.

  “Funny,” Marcus said with a straight face. Blake laughed. “Since we are out here, how about another filler piece. We could record a little bit about this town. It could be about how the presence of the CMA in the area has boosted business around here.”

  Kenneth raised an eyebrow. Marcus thought Kenneth might actually be going for the idea.

  “Not a bad idea,” Kenneth said. “Think we need another filler piece?”

  “I don’t know,” Marcus said. “I assume I’ll be gone for the better part of a week if I’m going out to Colorado and Utah. It’ll take some time to put together a piece out there for that story.” He paused to let the new lines sink in for Kenneth. “Plus, I could use a good cup of coffee.”

  “I think it’s a good idea,” Blake said. It surprised Marcus and Kenneth. Blake wasn’t one to give his opinion on much of anything.

  “Why not?” Kenneth said and then sat back into his seat as if he were signaling the conversation was over.

  Marcus reached forward and patted the shoulder of the CMA driver.

  “Stop near that little cafe in town,” Marcus said. “We can go in there and a few of the other nearby places.”

  After they parked, Blake filmed a few shots of the buildings around the area, leaving out any of the closed down businesses with boarded windows. Marcus was so excited that he almost had an extra skip in his step. He needed to calm himself. He didn’t want to make Ken suspicious of him.

  “I was thinking we could get some words from the cafe owner,” Blake said. It was another surprise to Marcus. He was starting to wonder if Blake was reading his mind.

  “My thoughts exactly,” Marcus said as he held the cafe’s door open so Blake could get through with the camera.

  Marcus looked at Blake curiously as he walked into the cafe and headed towards the back corner. It really was as if Blake knew Marcus’s whole plan.

  Blake motioned towards the back, near where Marcus’s booth sat, “We should set up back there so we aren’t in the way.”

  Marcus froze in horror as he turned the corner and his booth came into view. A man sat in the seat he needed. And it wasn’t just any man.

  “Anthony?” Marcus blurted out the question.

  “Gentleman,” Anthony said in acknowledgment. “What are you all doing in here?”

  “Oh, hey Anthony,” Kenneth said as rounded the corner behind Marcus and saw him sitting there.

  “We are getting some footage of the town and we were going to do a story about how the CMA’s presence in the area has boosted the local economy,” Blake said, nonchalantly. Marcus was becoming more and more impressed by Blake with every sentence he spoke.

  “Marcus,” Anthony nodded his head to him, “that doesn’t sound like a supply-chain issue.”

  “We finished that one up already,” Marcus said. “Wasn’t really any issue. We turned it into a story about the efficiency of the maintenance facility. We’ll show you after editing.”

  Marcus was hoping he wasn’t sweating nervously. How could Anthony be here? Not only that, how could he be in the exact seat that Marcus needed?

  “Come here often?” Marcus asked Anthony.

  “I’ve been here a couple of times,” Anthony said.

  “I like coming here for the coffee,” Marcus said.

  “Yes, I know. The General mentioned it,” Anthony said.

  So the General must have told more than Marcus’s request to go out for the story. If he told Anthony that Marcus mentioned something trivial like going to the cafe in town for coffee, then he probably told him everything about their encounter. Marcus wondered what that included. What had the General seen and
not given away that he knew?

  “Why don’t you all join me?” Anthony said, gesturing to the empty seats.

  Marcus sat down and slid up against the wall, bringing himself directly across from Anthony. He could picture the empty memory port under the table. It was probably only inches from Anthony’s knee. Marcus started to weigh the consequences of getting caught. Was it worth the risk? Was there another way? Perhaps while out in Colorado or Utah he could get to a phone that the CMA wouldn’t think to listen to and call Thomas. Marcus saw a possible flaw in that plan as well. He was supposed to be doing stories on camps out there. He would probably be on those camps most of the time out there. At least with trying here at the cafe, if he could pull it off, the CMA couldn’t monitor their system for sending messages. If they somehow retrieved the message, they didn’t have the passkey to decipher it.

  The conversation turned lighter. They ended up ordering food, an early dinner, in addition to the coffee. They all chatted about mostly meaningless subjects. Blake and Kenneth mostly seemed interested in talking about their gripes with living in the camp. Marcus contributed some to the subject. He, being a well-known face in the news, made quite good money and had become accustomed to a more lavish and convenient lifestyle. He was flexible, however, having lived quite poorly for many years trying to get started in the career in smaller markets.

  Marcus managed to slip the memory stick from his breast pocket. He had waited for the opportune moment. Someone had made a joke which everyone laughed at. Anthony had thrown his head back as he laughed. Marcus noticed and quickly grabbed the stick. Now the memory stick sat next to his leg, up against the wall. Maybe he should drop something? A fork? He could shift lower in the booth to pick up the fork and place the stick in its’ place.

  He did so. He bumped the fork with an elbow. It tumbled across his lap and down to the floor, coming to rest by his shoe. Marcus grabbed the memory stick as he shifted himself in the seat to make it easier to reach under the table. He couldn’t see the port. Anthony had a leg propped up on the other and his knee blocked it. Was this not meant to be? He came back up with the fork and placed it on his empty plate. What to do now?

  “I better be on my way,” Anthony said.

  Was Marcus finally being given a reprieve? Blake, who was sitting next to Anthony, stood so he could get out. Anthony shook their hands. Blake took his seat, luckily not scooting all the way down the booth to block the port. As the focus was still on Anthony about to leave, Marcus quickly reached under the table and placed the memory stick in the port with ease. He was worried it would take him several tries. He shifted in the seat to place his back against the wall. This way he could more easily glance over casually to see the smoke detector on the wall. The red light on the left was flashing. His message was being transmitted. He wondered if they were going to be able to write and send a response before Kenneth would want them to get back to base.

  “Well, shall we?” Kenneth said.

  Could Kenneth have any worse timing? It seemed like everyone knew exactly what Marcus was trying to do and were setting up road block after road block.

  “I was hoping to get one more top off on the coffee,” Marcus said, trying to stall. “Can’t get coffee like this at the camp.”

  “We’ve been here long enough today,” Kenneth said. “Plus, you’ve had like four cups of coffee. Let’s get back. Today’s footage needs to be edited before you leave. If there are any voice-over corrections to do, I want you to do them today. You leave tomorrow, right?”

  “Yes, in the morning,” Marcus answered, hiding his disappointment.

  As they all stood from the table, Marcus looked over to the smoke detector. There was a steady red light on the right side which meant his message had been sent. The center green light lit up as Marcus watched. They were sending a message back already. If they leave now, it could be a week before he could see their answer. Blake took off for the restroom. Kenneth put an arm on Marcus’s shoulder and guided him out of the cafe.

  “Look, Marcus,” Kenneth said in almost a whisper, “I’m glad you didn’t make a scene about what I told you. This really is a great opportunity for you and I. We are going to come out on top of a new America. We are going to be kings of the industry.”

  Marcus smiled and nodded at Ken. He didn’t know what to say. They stood by the exit waiting for Blake.

  “Whew,” Blake said as he walked up to them. “I definitely had too much coffee too. I was about to burst.”

  “I should run back there too,” Marcus said. “I did have four cups. I’ll meet you at the Humvee.”

  Blake and Kenneth exited the cafe while Marcus rushed to the restroom. Once he was done, he quickly returned to the table. The table was still covered with their plates and cups meaning the waitress hadn’t been there to clean up yet. He slid into the booth and reached under. He felt around and couldn’t feel the memory stick. He eventually bent over and looked at where the port was. The stick wasn’t there. It was gone.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Lewis’s truck lights fell onto Will. He slammed the brakes and Will jumped into the passenger seat. Will didn’t ask a single question yet. He knew the other group showed up and started shooting. There was no time for questions. They needed to get Alejandro and make their escape further up the mountain. They heard more shots fired. Will stuck his pistol out the window and fired a few wild shots up the hill. He hoped that would cause them to back off and stop shooting long enough for them to get out of sight.

  They came upon Alejandro only a few moments later. He had already made it to the bottom of the driveway and was starting to rush back up. Will threw the passenger door open and scooted towards the middle of the bench seat. Alejandro hadn’t completely shut the door before Lewis slammed the accelerator to the floor again. He turned left out of the driveway onto the main road. The truck’s rear end skidded a few feet before catching again. A few more bullets whizzed down the hill. Some slammed into the side of the truck. Others ricocheted off the road. The side-view mirror exploded only a foot away from Lewis. A few bits of the glass from the mirror flew into Lewis’s forearm. He gasped and clenched his teeth. He shook his arm trying to calm the sudden sting.

  Lewis’s property was basically at the end of the main road before reaching the 4x4 trail. He was forced to slow down to begin navigating the rough and steepening trail. Will and Alejandro glanced back as the truck slowed. They saw no lights. They saw no figures in the dark. Finally, someone spoke.

  “You okay, Lewis?” Juana asked.

  “I’ll be fine,” Lewis said. “Just a couple of small pieces of the mirror sticking out of my arm. It’s not bleeding much. I’ve had worse.”

  “We’ll still want to get it cleaned up soon,” Juana said. “Maybe someone else should take over driving and we get you cleaned up.”

  “Looks like it’d be alright,” Alejandro said. “I don’t see anyone or anything back there. Anyone see anything?”

  “No,” Will said. “It looks clear”

  No one else saw anyone or anything so Lewis stopped the truck. He quickly got out and shuffled to the back seat to have Beth help take care of his arm. Juana got out and moved forward next to Alejandro. Will scooted into the driver’s seat and took over driving.

  “Everyone else okay?” Will asked.

  Everyone answered in the affirmative.

  Will continued on for over an hour. Someone would look back about every minute it seemed. Eventually, everyone except Alejandro had fallen asleep. He was still looking back every once in a while. It was a slow-going crawl up the technical trail. Luckily, Will had done it many times in his Jeep to find some new camping spots. Although, he was still being quite a bit more careful with Lewis’s truck.

  “We’ve gone at least ten miles by now,” Will said quietly to Alejandro. “I think there’s no reason for that group to pursue us up here. There’s nothing up here for them. I really don’t think they’d go through the trouble for revenge.”

 
“I hope not,” Alejandro said. “What are you thinking? We should stop now?”

  “Yeah. There is another trail that should be coming up in about a mile or so. It’s a loop that cuts around and reconnects to this trail. If we go up there aways I think we’ll be well hidden for the night. We can figure out more tomorrow.”

  “Sounds fine to me,” Alejandro said.”

  About ten minutes later, Will turned off the main trail.

  “I didn’t even see the trail,” Alejandro said. “I’ve been keeping my eyes trained on the roadside hoping to spot it.”

  Will chuckled. “Yeah, it’s hard to see. Even harder at night. I’ve been four-wheeling up here ever since I bought my Jeep. That was in high school. Anyway, if that group comes up here looking for us I think they’d pass by unaware.”

  Will spent another ten minutes maneuvering the even rougher looping trail. He finally pulled over in a small clearing. He turned off the truck.

  The immediate stunning silence and the overwhelming exhaustion hit him all at once. He looked back to see that everyone in the back seat was still asleep. Alejandro shifted slightly to get more comfortable. Will leaned the seat back a few inches. As sleep was quickly overtaking him, he wondered if someone should stay awake to keep watch. He could already hear Alejandro’s slight snoring. He was the only one awake still. He couldn’t fight the exhaustion anymore. He thought he might already be dreaming. Was he awake keeping watch? He didn’t know. His mind would tell him whatever he wanted to hear in his deep dream state.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Marcus sat back in the seat. How could the memory stick be missing? He searched both seats and the floor. Still nothing. Did Kenneth or Anthony see him? Anthony was already on his way out of the cafe when Marcus had entered the memory stick into the port so it couldn’t have been him. Kenneth? When would he have taken it? He was baffled. What if there was a message for him? Can’t act like anything is wrong. Have to roll with the punches.