No Sanctuary Box Set: The No Sanctuary Omnibus - Books 1-6

by Mike Kraus

  “That’ll be pretty difficult considering you are the cavalry.”

  “Ugh. Don’t remind me.” Linda put the phone into the case and closed the lid. “We’ve got intel, a means of reaching you, a cripple and a guy with no field experience.” She smiled at Frank. “No offense.”

  “None taken, cripple.”

  “Ha!” Linda laughed and stood up. She hobbled over to the counter and poured a glass of water for herself before continuing to walk around the small island in the center. “What about that plane you mentioned, Sarah? I’m curious to see how that’s going to work since the people I talked to said that most of the military’s vehicles are still grounded while they check them over.”

  “A lot’s changed in the last week. One of the biggest is that there are cargo planes making runs back and forth to distribute supplies between the survivor cities.”

  “What kind of supplies?”

  “From what I’ve heard we’re getting shipments in from some of our allies overseas. Medicine, food, mechanical parts. Things to survive and rebuild.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “It’ll take more than a few boats with parts to fix what’s gone wrong here.”

  “And these are coming in through the port, I assume?” Frank asked.

  “Yep. The same port that was bombed during the initial attacks. I have no doubt that was done to both cripple the port and disguise the source of the attack.”

  “How’s it up and running so fast?”

  Sarah shrugged. “Who knows. It’s not like they have just a single dock, though. I’m sure they’re making it work somehow. Anyway, that doesn’t matter right now. Once you touch down at whatever airport they’re using—I’m guessing either LAX or Long Beach—you’ll need to head for the port. You could take a military vehicle there if you want but I’d advise a civilian one instead, to be more discreet.”

  Linda nodded. “Wouldn’t want to tip off the suspect that we’re coming.”

  “No, you would not. Plus folks are getting pretty rowdy around there. A lot of people without anything next to a port jammed full of supplies is a box of dynamite with somebody throwing lit matches at it. Sooner or later it’s going to go up in flames and you don’t want to be a target.”

  “So we’re going to go there on a military cargo plane?”

  “Yep.”

  “How?”

  Sarah opened a bag next to the table and pulled out a pair of small leather ID cases. She flipped each one open to reveal a gold badge next to a small card with embossed lettering, a barcode and an integrated computer chip. “These are emergency ID cards.”

  “What do you use them for?” Frank picked up one of the cards and turned it over before realizing what he had just asked. Both Linda and Sarah stared at him and he shrugged, then Sarah sighed and continued speaking.

  “They’re nigh-on impossible to get your hands on. Display these to the military and they’ll identify you as working on behalf of the CIA. You won’t be able to get into classified areas or access classified information with them but you’ll be able to do pretty much everything else. You need to requisition a vehicle, borrow a weapon or get on a plane? These will do it.”

  Frank eyed the leather case with a healthy amount of respect. “That sounds incredibly insecure. Surely a foreign agent could get their hands on one and use it to get up to all sorts of bad things.”

  “Normally they’re keyed to individuals with embedded DNA samples. In times like this, though, they’re pretty much bearer bonds. If you hold one then you’re assumed to be one of the good guys.”

  Linda looked at Sarah as she picked up her badge. “If we can use them like that, what about Omar’s people? Could they?”

  For once Sarah didn’t have an answer.

  ***

  The next morning, after packing a few days’ worth of supplies and getting their things together, Frank and Linda said their farewells to Sarah and headed southwest, taking a wide loop around the survivor city to get back to their Humvee. They were relieved to find it and all of their supplies and weapons intact thanks to the fact that they had hidden the vehicle well before leaving it when they entered D.C. previously.

  Upon hearing about their Humvee Sarah had recommended that they take it to Davison Army Airfield where it combined with their special access badges would ensure that they were able to get on the next flight westward. As Frank approached the airfield in the late afternoon he began feeling nervous about what would happen next.

  “I can’t imagine they’ll be happy to see civilians driving one of their vehicles.”

  “We have the badges, Frank. We’ll be fine.”

  “We pull up, I hand the guard our badges, then what?”

  “What do you mean? We tell him we’re on an assignment and need to get to Los Angeles as quickly as possible. We’ll play it by ear.”

  Frank nodded and twisted the steering wheel nervously. Linda smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder. “Stop worrying. Besides, Sarah said you’re a changed man now. All self-confident and gung-ho.”

  Frank laughed. “It’s easy to be gung-ho and self-confident when you’re looting houses. Dealing with the military is your line of work.”

  “I’d be happy to drive but my leg’s not strong enough yet. The last thing we need is for me to crash into the fence or the guard himself.”

  Frank chuckled and the pair lapsed into silence for several minutes before Linda spoke again. “Hey, what’s the deal with it being so quiet around here?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I just… I guess I expected things to be louder. More boisterous. But we’ve seen, what, three cars since we left Sarah’s? And maybe ten people total? All of them were heading into the survivor city, too.”

  “Heh. I forgot you wouldn’t have seen the notices or heard the bullhorns a few days back.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “There were people driving around posting flyers and shouting about how everyone needed to evacuate their homes and get into the survivor city. They were delivering relief supplies to a few places outside the survivor city but they’re not going to do that anymore so they wanted people to know about that.”

  “Wait, so the only place people will get relief supplies will be inside the cities now?”

  “Well, yeah. You were the one who was telling me about that when we were in the city.”

  Linda nodded slowly. “Oh I know, but… wow. They’re really doing it. I’m moderately surprised. People are going to be rioting in the streets over it soon, I’m sure.”

  “You mean the ones who didn’t go to the cities?”

  “Exactly. Too unprepared to store up their own emergency supplies but too paranoid to go into a survivor city. I’ll bet you there’s a fair number of them.”

  “I sure hope not.” Frank sighed and pointed. “There’s the base entrance. You ready for this?”

  Linda pulled out her ID and waggled it in the air. “Ready as I’ll ever be. You?”

  Frank patted the breast pocket of his shirt. “Good to go.”

  ***

  A few minutes later Frank slowed the Humvee as they approached the gate. Several guards stood behind it, each of them holding rifles as they conversed with each other. At first they didn’t react to the Humvee’s approach but once they saw that the people driving it weren’t wearing uniforms they snapped into action. Two of them drew down on the Humvee while standing to the sides of the barrier. Another ran to a nearby phone and picked it up while a fourth grabbed a nearby bullhorn and shouted.

  “You in the Humvee! Halt or we’ll open fire!”

  Frank slammed on the brake pedal and the vehicle jerked to a stop. Linda raised her hands in the air and talked to him out of the side of her mouth. “Put your hands up. Keep them up till they get to the window, then slowly roll it down.”

  “Got it.” Frank gulped nervously. The guard with the bullhorn put it down and shouted something to the one who had run to the phone. He then walked over towards the Humvee, tapping on
the trigger guard of his rifle nervously. He stopped a few feet from the vehicle and looked at Linda and Frank intensely for several seconds before raising his hand and waving it in a vertical circle.

  Frank slowly lowered his left hand and rolled down the window before putting his hand back up in the air. The guard didn’t approach any closer but instead circled around to the side to get a clear view through the open window. “Identify yourselves, please.” His tone was stern and no-nonsense with a hint of confusion.

  “Frank Richards.”

  “Linda Rollins.”

  “What are you two doing here in a military vehicle?”

  Frank pointed at his shirt pocket with his index finger. “I have identification here. Can I take it out?”

  The guard stiffened slightly but nodded. “Move slowly.”

  Frank went far slower than he thought the guard wanted as he opened the flap on his shirt pocket and pulled out the identification that Sarah had given to both him and Linda. He opened it and held it out through the window for the guard to read. “We’re on assignment for the CIA. Our contact sent us here to catch a flight to the west coast.”

  The guard’s eyebrows shot upward at the sight of the badge. He stepped forward and plucked it from Frank’s grasp, stepped back and examined it closely. “She has one, too?”

  “Yes sir, I do.” Linda replied. “It’s sitting in my lap. Do you want me to get it?”

  The guard stared at Frank’s ID for several more seconds before snapping it shut. “No. Just hang tight.” He walked back toward the guard shack where one of the other guards was still on the phone. The pair had a whispered conversation that went on for a few minutes and involved no less than three separate phone calls. There might have been more but Frank and Linda couldn’t see what the pair of guards were doing very well. The two who had been aiming their rifles at the vehicle had, however, lowered their weapons which made Frank feel slightly better about the situation.

  Several more minutes passed before the guard who had taken Frank’s badge came walking back. His stance was visibly more relaxed and his rifle was slung over his shoulder instead of being held at the ready. He walked up to the driver’s window of the Humvee and nodded. “Here you are, sir. You said you have one of these too, correct, Ma’am?”

  Linda picked up her badge and passed it across to Frank who handed it to the guard. He flipped it over and looked at it for a few seconds before closing it and handing it back. “You two can lower your hands now. Thanks for doing that.”

  “No problem.” Frank smiled. “Are we cleared to pass?”

  “Yes, sir.” The guard reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out two plastic cards with lanyards attached to them. “Put these around your necks and wear them at all times. You’ll want to head inside to the main building and speak with the flight coordinator. They’ll get you to your destination as soon as humanly possible.”

  “Thank you!” Frank smiled and took the cards, passing one over to Linda. “We appreciate the help.”

  The guard nodded and waved at the others to open the main gate. “No problem. Sorry about the delay there. It’s been a while since we’ve seen an emergency ID so I had to call in and have it cleared.” The guard stepped away from the Humvee. “Go on ahead. The main building’s straight through the gate, just off to your right. We’ve let them know to expect you.”

  Frank nodded and put the Humvee back into gear before accelerating forward. The guards around the gate were already back to looking bored and their conversations had resumed as well. Linda watched them as Frank drove past, heading towards the main building.

  “Nicely done there, Frank.”

  He let out a sigh of relief and rolled the window back up. “I’m just glad those badges worked. I’ve never heard of them before.”

  Linda shrugged. “They’re relatively new. I’m surprised that they work at all without the DNA authentication but I guess it’s like Sarah said; if there’s a crisis and they can’t access the database then they assume that if you hold one you’re good to go.”

  “That seems like something that would be easy to abuse.”

  Linda nodded. “Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t be but right now, yeah, it would. I suspect nobody ever really planned for what to do in a situation like this. We’re lucky, though. Very lucky.”

  “I’ll say. What do we do when we get inside?”

  “We ask them for a plane ride. Simple as that.”

  Frank parked the Humvee in front of the main building. He and Linda got out and headed inside, leaving their weapons and gear in the vehicle until they found out more information about their flight. At the front desk they displayed their badges and went through another several minutes of phone calls before the person they spoke to told them what to do.

  “You need a flight to the Los Angeles Port?” The man shook his hand as he flipped through a thick logbook that had past and upcoming flight numbers and times scribbled across its pages. “You part of the rescue operations?”

  Frank and Linda exchanged a quick glance before Linda spoke. “More or less. We’re on assignment from the CIA. Doing some recon. We have our gear and weapons in the Humvee out front.”

  “Fair enough. I know better than to ask too many questions about those spooks.” He glanced around and shook his head before talking in a low tone. “I sure as hell wish they would have done something about this attack, though.”

  Frank shrugged. “Not my department, sorry. Now about that flight…”

  “Yes, right. Sorry. We’ve got one arriving from Long Beach in about twenty minutes. We’ll need an hour to refuel and offload the cargo then it’ll be up in the air heading back.”

  Linda nodded. “Excellent. Where do we go?”

  “If you want to put your feet up, you can—”

  “No thanks.” Frank shook his head. “We have some prep work to do beforehand. Where can we park while we get our gear in order?”

  The man nodded slowly. “Right. You’ll be looking for hangar six. Half a mile down the main road, on the right. You can’t miss it. Make sure you’ve got those tags hanging where everyone can see them, though. We’ve had more than a few civvies jumping the fence. Wouldn’t want you to be mistaken for one.”

  “Will do. Thanks for the help.”

  “Mhm.”

  Frank and Linda turned and walked out of the main building, both of them feeling the curious gaze of the man behind them, wondering who the strange pair was and what they were up to. When Frank and Linda got back to the Humvee they sat in it for a few minutes to talk.

  “How’s the leg holding up?”

  “It’s been better. And worse. Mostly worse.”

  Frank chuckled and looked out around the Humvee at the vehicles and people going back and forth. “I’m not familiar with the Los Angeles area. How far away is the port from the airport we’ll be flying to?”

  “Ten, twenty miles maybe. It’s a ways inland so we’ll have more than a bit of driving to do.”

  “Think we’ll be able to find a regular car, like Sarah was saying we should do?”

  “It sounds like if we don’t then we’ll just be setting ourselves up for a worse time than we’d otherwise have.” Linda squirmed in her seat to make enough room to stretch her leg out straight. “We’ll make do, though.”

  “I guess so.”

  There was a brief pause before Linda turned to Frank and patted him on his arm. “Nice work back there, by the way.”

  “You mean with the guy?” Frank shrugged. “When you’ve got a ‘go anywhere’ badge you don’t have to do much.”

  “Nah.” Linda shook her head. “You do. But I wasn’t just talking about that. I heard you were the one going out and being the hero while I was sleeping.”

  “Oh. That.” Frank glanced around, uncomfortable with the praise. “I just did what needed to be done.”

  “Good.” Linda squeezed Frank’s hand. “Hold on to that attitude and we’ll get through this somehow.”

&nb
sp; Frank nodded slowly and they both sat quietly for another twenty minutes before Frank glanced at his watch. “We should probably get going, eh? They’ll be ready for us to board soon.”

  “Yep, let’s go.”

  Frank drove along down the road, counting off the hangar numbers until they reached number six. Out in front sat the massive body of a C-130 Hercules, its back door lowered as people swarmed inside and around it as they offloaded large crates of supplies. Frank pulled around to the side of the hangar out of the way and sat watching the ordered chaos for a moment, amazed at how something that appeared so messy could actually have so much order.

  “It’s weird, you know.” He spoke, mostly to himself.

  “What’s that?” Linda opened a bottle of water from her backpack and took a drink.

  “Outside the fences of this place are millions upon millions of people who are either dead, dying or struggling to survive. All that chaos and confusion and disorder and death seems so far away when you watch these people here.”

  “They’re trying to help everyone out there, you know.”

  “I know.” Frank sighed. “It’s just surreal, you know?”

  Linda watched the soldiers work for a minute before replying. “I guess I’m used to seeing order in the midst of chaos. Being deployed in the middle of a sandbox will do that to you.”

  “I guess that’s true. It’s still weird to me, though.”

  Linda smiled and opened her door. “Better get used to it soon, Frank. We’re going to be living it for the foreseeable future.”

  Chapter 6

  “Just find a clinic or a hospital, Frank. They’ll have morphine locked up in a cabinet, Frank. Easy pickings, Frank.” Frank Reynolds rolls his eyes as he stalks through the dark halls of the Washington Walk-In Clinic. “Thanks a lot, Sarah.” He continues whispering to himself as he goes, wishing he had chosen a different location to search. His small flashlight cuts through the shadows in each room, though it fails to reveal anything of interest.

  The walk-in clinic was looted days ago based on how much dirt and rain has accumulated through the holes in the windows and doors. Cabinets full of bandages, antiseptics, medicine samples and surgical tools have been stripped bare. The majority of what remains are the bones of the building. Most of the walls and furniture are intact but there are thick layers of spray paint on both. Gang symbols, obscenities, proclamations of the end of days and even a few small murals cover the interior and exterior of the building.