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

by Mike Kraus

  “Sounds good.” Frank pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the exit of the airfield. “Just give me directions while I keep an eye on the road.”

  “Will do.”

  ***

  While Frank had been exposed to the raw, post-attack world for over a week, Linda had been unconscious and had forgotten much of what things were like. The drive from Sarah’s to Dulles had been spent with her dozing most of the time and while the airfields were chaotic they lacked any real sense of destruction or cataclysm. After being insulated from the apocalyptic landscape for so long it was a shock to her system when they drove out of the airfield and into the city.

  Fires had ravaged the city, reducing many of the structures to piles of ash or leaving their steel structures leaning at odd angles. One of the overpasses visible from the airport had partially collapsed thanks to three tractor-trailers being at its apex when they all exploded. While the airfield had power thanks to the backup generators on site the power to the city hadn’t been restored and likely wouldn’t for months or years. The level of damage suffered by the area meant that while it had long ago been preselected as a survivor city there was no way it could support any large numbers of people. Tens of thousands perished in the explosions and subsequent fires that blew through the area, a scene that had been echoed across the country.

  Frank wove in and out between the piles of collapsed rubble and the destroyed vehicles, making frequent turns as he followed each of Linda’s directions. The main route straight down from the airport along the Long Beach Freeway was blocked by rubble and burned-out trucks so most of their time was spent weaving through densely packed neighborhoods and run-down strip malls. There were few signs of life amongst the houses, with most of them having burned in the fires. The few that remained looked as though they had been picked clean of everything but the foundation. Doors and windows were smashed in, graffiti was all over the exterior and there were bits and pieces of furniture and other household items strewn across the lawns.

  In total Frank spotted three people during the drive from the airport to the port, and all of them looked as though they were out scavenging or looking for trouble. The fact that people were still managing to survive in the big cities that had been hit the hardest was astonishing to Frank. Anyone without significant reserve resources stashed away had either been forced to move to another city or had died from a lack of food and fresh water.

  The wide highway that separated the residential neighborhoods from the port region marked a stark change in scenery. The flames from the densely packed homes hadn’t spread to the port district but it had still suffered from its own set of problems.

  Huge open asphalt lots spread out along the water, dotted by the occasional warehouse and other buildings belonging to both government entities and private organizations. Some of the lots were barren but most were still filled with the same goods that had been sitting in them on the day of the attacks. Hundreds of cars—most of which had been defaced by looters—sat parked in rows near a large ship that had carried them from their country of origin. Other lots had hundreds and thousands of eighteen-wheeler trailers and cargo containers sitting in them. Most of these had been broken into, though a few of the trailers had been rigged with explosives and were destroyed during the initial attacks.

  The containers holding high-end electronics, clothing and other products were the first to be ransacked by looters as most thought the attacks were over and that normalcy would soon return. When days passed and the situation continued to deteriorate, though, they soon returned to search for perishable goods that had been imported from overseas. Unfortunately the vast majority had been spoiled due to sitting out in the hot sun for days on end instead of being moved into refrigerated trailers and sent off to their destinations.

  The abrupt disruption of complex transport systems hadn’t stopped at cars, food, electronics and clothing. Cargo ships full of goods waiting to be offloaded at the port either turned around and headed back to their port of origin or dropped anchor where they were, depending on their cargo and whether their crew was from the United States or not. Those with captains and crew who were citizens of the United States by and large left their ships where they were and headed onto land in search of loved ones.

  A few enterprising individuals had managed to get aboard the cargo ships and raided them for food and fuel, turning the transport vessels into temporary miniature floating fortresses. This strategy ultimately didn’t lead to any significant improvements for those few on board, though, as the food and fresh water soon ran out and there were no easy ways to get the fuel out of the ship’s tanks and onto land to use elsewhere. One person did try to navigate one of the cargo vessels out to sea in a foolhardy attempt to escape to another country but without tugboats to guide the ship out of the narrow passages around the port all he managed to do was scrape up the ship’s hull along the shore.

  While most of the Los Angeles Port was either filled with refuse, partially destroyed or out of commission, there were two docks that were up and running at maximum capacity. Ships carrying relief supplies from other countries had been using the docks for the last few days after emergency repairs were hastily made to the surrounding infrastructure. The National Guard was tasked with guarding the supplies in between the port and the airfield and shipments went back and forth at irregular intervals to make it difficult for looters to try and ambush them (as had happened with the second and third shipments).

  Nonperishable food, water purifiers, medical supplies and temporary housing materials were sent in bulk primarily by ship due to the massive amounts of aid required to support those in the sanctuary cities. With two docks operational and only a handful of experienced workers available to oversee them the process of getting the supplies onto land wasn’t as smooth as it otherwise could have been.

  “Holy hell.” Frank’s jaw dropped open as he made the final turn on their approach to the docks. Several floodlights had been rigged to a nearby generator and hung from cranes near where the ships were being unloaded. People were running and driving around the area, working together to move large crates and sea containers out of the way so that they could be emptied. The contents of the containers were then checked by several people who drove around in golf carts while holding clipboards and occasionally shouting into two-way radios. Once the goods were checked they were then loaded onto large trucks with military markings and driven to the edge of the dock area to await transport to the airport.

  “Wow.” Linda whistled. “That’s quite an operation they have going on.” She pointed out across the water. “Look at all the ships they have lined up out there waiting to dock. It has to be a good dozen or more.”

  “Why do they only have two at the dock?”

  “Probably because they don’t have power at the others for the cranes, or something else is wrong with them. Look at all those people, too.”

  “Yeah, that’s just… wow. There has to be one, maybe two hundred.”

  “At least. And that’s just the workers. They’ve got an active perimeter established, too, with the National Guard and Army working as security.”

  Frank snorted in amusement. “I guess we didn’t need to worry about not taking something with military markings, eh?”

  “Yeah I don’t think that would have been a problem.” Linda’s eyes flitted back and forth as she scanned the docks. “I think we’ll be fine in this thing, too. I see several cars parked just inside the main gate. As long as we can get past the guards we’ll be fine.”

  Frank drove the SUV around to the main gate, going slow enough to keep from drawing unnecessary attention from those inside. When he got near the gate one of the guards held up his hand and walked out to the SUV while another stood a few feet behind.

  “You folks know there’s a curfew, right?” The guard’s tone was cautious as he wasn’t yet sure what the pair were up to.”

  “Yep. We’re here on business.” Frank held up the ID tag he received back at
Dulles along with the badge provided by Sarah. While the guard had no prior experience with the badge Frank was wielding he did recognize the ID tag and, together with the official-looking badge, he decided that the pair were suitable to allow in through the gate. “Go ahead. Parking’s over there. Try to stay out of the way.”

  Frank caught himself before saying something to the effect of ‘are you sure’ and drove through the gate. After he parked he looked over at Linda. “I can’t believe that worked.”

  “I can. The badges look official enough and these ID tags are good for another few days. This isn’t a military area so he would have no real reason to deny us entry.”

  “What if he’s working with the person who’s helping Omar?”

  Linda shrugged. “What alternative did we have? Climb over the fence and hope nobody spotted us?”

  Frank sighed and nodded. “I guess at some point you just have to roll with what you’ve got and hope it turns out okay in the end.”

  “That’s the spirit.” Linda smiled. “So, what’s our plan going in there?”

  “You’re asking me?” Frank chuckled. “How the hell would I know?”

  “Think of something. Be creative.”

  Frank scratched his chin and looked out the window at the people running around. “We need to look for someone low on the food chain. Whoever covered up the radiation detection couldn’t have been a normal worker. It would have been someone higher up. I say we go in, figure out who’s in charge and if anyone’s still working here who isn’t in charge and then we try to get them to help us.”

  “It makes sense, it’s logical and not overly complicated. I like it.”

  “All right. Let’s get out there.”

  Chapter 8

  While Linda had been all over the world both during and after her time in the military she had never visited a place quite like the docks that she found herself wandering around in. Frank, on the other hand, had been to places quite like it several times during his month on the road as a truck driver and he quickly found himself taking the lead as they made their way through the hustle and bustle.

  Once inside the walls they found themselves in a sort of miniature city with its own rules, hierarchy and quirks. While the Army and National Guard were providing security and overseeing the offloading and transport of the incoming supplies, they weren’t technically in charge until the supplies reached the airfield. An eclectic collection of civilians—the few experienced dockworkers who had returned to help run operations—were the ones who handed down orders and kept things running smoothly twenty-four hours a day.

  Identifying those in charge turned out to be quite easy thanks to the manner in which they carried themselves and Frank skillfully avoided them, preferring to stay out of their way as he and Linda searched for someone who appeared willing to answer a few of their questions. They found said person some thirty minutes later as he sat in a break room hungrily devouring the contents of a microwaveable TV dinner tray.

  “Hey.” Frank nodded at the man as he and Linda sat down, both of them careful to hide the military ID tags hanging from their necks. They had spotted the man talking to a pair of his superiors earlier and after witnessing his disgruntled attitude, Linda decided that he was the most likely candidate to give them the information they wanted.

  The man glanced up at Frank and looked over at Linda before nodding in return. “I don’t recognize you two. You new here?”

  “Just passing through.” Frank rubbed his nose and glanced at Linda. “We were actually hoping you could help us.”

  The man took another bite and chewed it slowly as he looked at Frank and Linda, trying to figure out what they were after. “Look guys, I’m just working here to try and get some extra supplies for my folks. You want anything you’ll need to go through the suits.” The man mumbled something as he shoved another bite of food in his mouth and Linda slid over a few chairs to sit across from the man.

  “We don’t actually need anything except a bit of information. We’re looking for someone. Except we’re not really sure who it is.”

  The man raised an eyebrow and wiped the corner of his mouth with his napkin. “Sounds like it’s going to be tough to find them if you don’t even know who they are.”

  “We’re looking for someone who would have been monitoring some detection equipment about a month or so ago when it happened to malfunction.”

  The man stopped chewing mid-bite and abruptly swallowed, cringed, took a long drink of water and wiped his mouth on the back of his arm before replying. “You want… what? Who?” The man’s relatively impassive face was suddenly wracked with nervousness.

  Frank, sensing that the man was about to flee, stepped into the conversation. “It’s okay, just relax.” He flipped open his badge and held it up for a few seconds before closing it and putting it back into his pocket. “We’re from the Department of Energy. It’s part of our job to close out the books on any sort of radiation equipment malfunctions. Just crossing the t’s and whatnot.”

  “You’re… Department of Energy? What?” The man shook his head, thoroughly confused. “The world is basically ending and you guys are out here to check on a radiation sensor malfunction?”

  Linda smiled at the man. “Radiation sensor malfunction, eh? So you know about it?”

  The man stammered and sounded like he was going to make up some sort of excuse when he slumped down in his chair and shrugged meekly. “It’s not my fault, okay? I was doing my job. I was sitting in my little office watching the screens and everything went to shit. I reported it just like I was supposed to do and that was that.”

  “Wait a second.” Linda looked over at Frank with a raised eyebrow. “You were the one monitoring the equipment when the sensor malfunctioned?”

  The man nodded slowly. “Yeah… I thought you guys knew that.”

  “Can you tell us what you remember about that day?” Frank guided the topic of conversation back to where he wanted it to go. “Our records are somewhat muddied right now due to what’s going on.”

  The man took another bite of his food, feeling slightly more at ease with the pair talking to him. “I already filed a report but I can tell you what I remember if you think that’ll help.”

  “Yes, please. Let’s start with your name.”

  “Okay. I’m Nate. Nathan Davis.” The man took another drink and sat back in his chair with a loud belch. “Sorry. Anyway, so it was a normal day. Just like any other. The sensors were fine, like I said in my report, and they had received their maintenance checkups just as usual. There was no reason to believe anything was wrong.”

  “But something was wrong?”

  Nate rolled his eyes. “That’s what my supervisor said at first. When I tried to ask more questions later it was like the whole thing was being ignored. I couldn’t believe it, though. Not at those radiation levels.”

  “Were you the one that filed the report on them?”

  He nodded. “I did. I caught shit for it but I did it anyway.”

  Linda glanced at Frank. “Why did you file a report?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” He looked at Frank and Linda in disbelief. “You don’t get those kind of readings from a broken sensor. No way. And I’m pretty sure a shipment of rice isn’t radioactive.”

  Linda scribbled in a small notebook she had produced from her pocket near the start of the conversation. “Rice?”

  “Yeah, that’s what was passing through the scanner when it went haywire.”

  “Where was it shipping from?”

  “Ukraine, I think? Maybe Croatia? Somewhere over there.”

  “Nate,” Frank asked, “what happened after you initially saw the issue? Who did you talk to, besides your supervisor?”

  Nate sat back in his chair and looked at the ceiling, trying to remember the name of the man who had called him. “There was a guy who called me and explained that the sensor was malfunctioning. I talked to another guy who works here and looked up the guy’s badge number and it
belonged to someone else.”

  “So someone called you, impersonating someone else, to give you the explanation that the sensor malfunctioned?”

  “Yeah. It was really weird. But when I tried to talk to my supervisor about it she didn’t want to hear a thing. She said everything was under control and to basically just mind my own business.”

  “Interesting.” Linda nodded and jotted down a few more notes. While the decision to act like a couple of investigators had been completely off the cuff it was working surprisingly well and she continued to play her part. “We’d like to speak with anyone who you talked with. The person on the phone, your supervisor, anyone who worked on the sensors. Folks like that.”

  Nate shrugged. “Wish I could help you but nobody like that is still working here. They all left right after the attacks along with pretty much everyone else.”

  “Why didn’t you leave?” Frank asked.

  “I did, for a while. Then I heard they were reopening the port so I came down to see if I could get some work. I get food and a safe place to sleep so I don’t mind being here.”

  “Hm.” Linda wrote a few more lines in her notebook and stood up. “Excuse us for just a moment, Nate.” Frank stood up and followed Linda across to the other side of the room where she whispered to him. “What’s your read on this guy?”

  “He seems like he’s telling the truth to me. And it lines up with what Sarah said.”

  She nodded. “I agree. I don’t think he’s involved in this at all. So I think we need to take a calculated risk here. Are you okay with that?”

  “Yeah. What did you have in mind, though?”

  “Follow my lead.” Linda walked back to the table with a smile and picked up her backpack. “I think that’s all we have for you, Nate.” She was about to put her notebook away when she stopped. “Oh, actually there was one other thing you can help us with since you’ve been working here consistently. Have you noticed anyone different around?”