Broken Shield

by Ryan Garner

  …..

  Spokane Washington

  After several minutes of staring at the customers the bearded male's unusual behavior began to attract the attention of a few people including one store manager. After several more moments he gradually made his way through the crowded lines at the front of the store and towards the seemingly confused man.

  “Sir...can I help you find something?” The manager asked as he approached. He received only silence as a response. Confused, he moved in a bit closer trying to look the man in the eyes. When he did this he immediately noticed that the man’s pupils were extremely constricted, an obvious sign he was high.

  “Sir, are you looking for something in particular?” The man did not utter a word; instead he slowly and quietly removed his right hand from his pocket. His fingers were clutching the detonator so tightly that his knuckles were actually white. Not exactly sure what the object was that the man was holding the manager initially responded with a look of confusion on his face. A split second later there was a blinding flash of light in front of him.

  …..

  Lexington Kentucky

  The middle aged man walked closer and closer to the small crowd that had gathered around the discount section of the department store. His heart rate was steadily increasing as he grew closer to his intended targets. Just then, he was bumped from behind by a female customer who had been rushing around the store and was now attempting to “beat” him to the location that he was approaching. The scowl on the man's face grew larger.

  “Insolent female swine...” he angrily mumbled under his breath as he made a point to take note of exactly where the woman was going so that he would be certain to send this particular American to hell.

  Moving through the small gathering of people and being sure to stay extra close to the woman who had dared to touch him earlier the man glanced at his wrist watch.

  It’s time... He thought to himself as he again reached for the concealed detonator in his pocket just as the woman standing in front of him turned around. Surprised by his close proximity to her she nearly jumped back and gave him a frustrated look.

  “Excuse you...” She said in a snide tone. Her words were immediately met with a completely evil smile.

  “Allah be praised...” he said in a malevolent yet quiet voice before depressing the trigger switch on the detonator.

  ….

  Tallahassee Florida

  Governor’s Square Mall

  Vehicular traffic was backed up for miles along the Apalachee Parkway and the surrounding streets, as police had blocked off all roadways surrounding Governor’s Square Mall almost immediately after the suicide bombing had occurred. News and police helicopters slowly circled over the scene of the catastrophe and even though reports of an explosion within the mall were spreading quickly throughout the community there were still numerous onlookers who had gathered at the scene of the horrific event with morbid hopes of catching a glimpse of “history in the making.” Others were selfishly trying to go on with their everyday lives as if nothing had happened, some even choosing to argue with the officers that were attempting to reroute traffic around the mall because of the “inconvenience” that was being forced upon them.

  Numerous Police Officers, Fire Fighters, EMT's and other emergency medical personnel had quickly descended upon the scene and were now assisting with the evacuation of both injured and uninjured people. While the explosion itself had far from destroyed the mall the detonation had managed to kill a multitude of people, and injure countless more. A large portion of the surviving victims that had managed to escape death were now suffering from shrapnel injuries while others who had been close enough to the explosion itself were reeling from severe burns. The first responders were all attempting to triage the injured parties to determine the necessary medical attention that they would need.

  Cassie Fullmer a young female officer with bright red hair stood on the outside of the main entrance to the mall with several other officers hurriedly trying to guide the hundreds of mall goers through the glass exit doors and out of the building. A small contingent of fire fighters who had received armed escorts were already inside the mall trying to help extricate trapped victims and also to assess the overall structural integrity of the building itself. Even though it was assumed that the event was already over Cassie found it difficult to contain her overall anxiety as she gave people instructions as to where they should go or what they should do.

  To describe the situation as chaotic would have been an understatement. While some people did manage to stay calm in the face of disaster and actually listen to the instructions that were being given to them by the police and other emergency personnel, many of the civilians were in a state of complete and total panic. Quite a few were running around to different locations even though they had been given explicit instructions on exactly where to go after exiting the mall and for whatever reason others tried to pester officers with distracting and superfluous question. Cassie also noticed that some citizens were so distraught they were actually trying to get back into the mall.

  “Walk to the ambulances over there! Quickly!!!” Cassie stated to the mass of people that were steadily flowing out of the mall's exit as she pointed them over to a group of ambulances that were parked some distance away from the building, but still in the parking lot. The panicked nature of the crowd was only adding to Cassie’s stress levels as she did her best to maintain a professional demeanor.

  What had happened? Who had done this? Was it intentional? What was going on? These were all currently unanswered questions in both her mind and in the minds of all the other officers that were on the scene. However, everyone knew for the time being that they must ignore these mysteries and continue to do their jobs.

  Then, out of the corner of her eye, Cassie noticed a young man quickly approaching the entrance to the mall. Due to the flow of civilians in the opposite direction he was actually being forced to fight against the crowd much like a salmon swimming upstream.

  “Go back to the ambulances!!” Cassie heard one of the officers next to her shout to him. He did not respond, but continued to move closer to the exit doors of the building. Cassie's eyebrows rose as she watched him. This male’s actions made her suspicious; while most of the people around her were visibly shaken by the events at hand this man seemed almost calm. Adding to her suspicion she realized that the man had not even bothered to argue with the officer who had just given him the verbal instructions. While some of the panicked crowd had been attempting to regain entry into the mall, most of them were doing so in order to search for a loved one, go back for items that they had left behind, or for some other inexplicable reason. However, most had at least attempted to explain to the officers the exact reason why they wanted to get back inside; this man said nothing at all.

  It suddenly dawned on Cassie that something was very wrong about this situation. Without even thinking about it her right hand instinctively moved to her hip and she grasped her Glock 30. Using her thumb she flicked the securing strap on her two stage holster forwards and out of the way so that she would be able to draw her weapon. Unfortunately, it was already too late and Cassie watched as the man allowed his jacket to fall open exposing yet another suicide vest. There were immediate screams of horror as the crowd which was already being bottleneck at the exit doorways panicked almost instantly. People ran in every direction, which meant that even if Cassie had been able to draw her weapon in time it would have been virtually impossible for her to take a clean shot at the terrorist. Cassie did the only other thing she could think to do.

  “Dan!!” She screamed as she turned to the male officer who was standing next to her and pushed him away from the suicide bomber and towards the ground.

  Immediately after she had taken this action there was an enormous explosion and the massive glass entrance to the mall shattered almost instantaneously, even before the shrapnel had been given a chance to impact with it. The moment after she heard the explosion Cassi
e felt the heat from the fireball followed by immense pain as metallic ball bearings tore through her bullet resistant vest and embedded themselves in her body. After the initial burst of extreme agony Cassie felt absolutely nothing. In fact she heard nothing, nor could she see anything; everything was black.

  CHAPTER 8

  The world had gone mad. Societal order, justice, and the economy were crumbling away at an ever increasing pace. Riots were breaking out on a nearly daily basis in every large and even medium sized city all across the country. Yet, in the midst of all the chaos and potential for impending disaster, some people still managed to find the time to call in seemingly meaningless 911 calls, or to quibble over trivial neighborly disputes, or involve themselves in pointless domestic altercations. It was as if nothing had changed while at the same time everything had changed.

  The terrorist suicide bombings had caused significant loss of life and created an inescapable terror throughout the country. It was obvious to John and many others in law enforcement that the attacks had not been intended to produce the same large scale deaths similar to what had been seen in the historical 9/11 or London Suicide Bombings. Instead the bombings had been planned to spread fear and panic among the general population. People were now terrified to get groceries or to even go to department stores to buy socks. The malls were abandoned and many people were simply afraid to leave their own homes. The media had nicknamed the event, “Bloody Saturday.”

  The rise in panic and agoraphobia was not only causing severe economic dislocation, but across the country an already overworked emergency services system which had been stretched to the limit in many areas was now being pushed to the point of complete meltdown. Emergency calls to the police, fire, and EMS had begun to spiral out of control; everyone feared the next person could be a terrorist; it was almost as if the enemy was everywhere and yet they were nowhere.

  In order to help keep pace with the ever increasing call volume Wilmington PD’s community service squads such as the D.A.R.E. Unit and others of that type were now being broken up and their officers assigned back to field operations so that more officers would be available to answer 911 calls. John's squad had received two such officers, a Corporal Kurt Bergman and a female officer named, Esmeralda Humber. At her request people often referred to her as Ezzi.

  Despite society seemingly falling down around him there had only been one predominant thought on John's mind...Karina. His discovery of her involvement with Occupy Congress had shaken him to his very core. With the combination of work and apprehension over the current situations he had been unable to get a good night's sleep in what felt like days. Even worse, he had not talked to Karina since their unexpected encounter. With the bombings and riots John knew that finding time to sit down and talk to his friend now would be virtually impossible…if that was to ever even happen again.

  Driving through one of the ghost town sections of Wilmington in his Police Dodge Charger, John was in a veritable trance. It had only been minutes since he left his last call and he knew it would not be long before he received another one. He meandered through the abandoned streets of what had once been a bustling business section of the city, but thanks to the economic collapse it was nothing more than derelict buildings now. A light rain was falling and John's eyes gazed through the intermittent use of the windshield wipers and onto the illuminated roadway. Only about every other street lamp worked which left only his vehicle’s headlights to guide his path.

  His mind continued to go over and over both his and Karina's prior actions and he found that there were no easy answers. He constantly wondered just how deep she was imbedded with Occupy Congress. His sworn duty demanded that he should turn her in immediately for her actions, but his heart told him something drastically different. The truth of the matter was that since the NGP had taken such an unusually high interest in Occupy Congress members as of late and given their orders to make the arrests at the protest John was terrified at the idea of risking Karina’s disappearance into the unknown haze of federal imprisonment where so many others had “vanished.” She was probably the only person in John's life that he would have even given this type of thought to. For so long it had been relatively simple, criminals were the “bad guys” and he was one of the “good guys”. It was just that recently those boundaries had begun to blur at an ever increasing rate and John was becoming more and more uncertain of where the lines should be drawn or for that matter who was actually drawing them.

  Karina’s involvement with Occupy Congress complicated matters even further. It used to be “easy” to do his job, at least emotionally. It was simple to hate the enemy, so to speak. It was only when you gave that enemy a face that everything changed. John let out an exhausted sigh and gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter as he drove into the rain, his anxiety over the situation at hand still consuming him from within.

  …..

  It was going to happen today...it had to happen today. There was absolutely no reason why it shouldn't. Karina thought to herself as she sat quietly at her desk inside of the Emergency Communications Center, located in the basement of the police station. Things at the Occupy Congress rally weren’t supposed to have gotten that out of hand; and worse yet John had seen her, he knew what she was and who she was involved with. Even though he had momentarily dropped his guard and allowed her to escape she knew he would eventually regain his “senses” and report her. Given the length of time that had passed since the protest and since Karina assumed that John had already reported her. She now believed it was likely that the NGP would actually come for her, not one of Wilmington's officers. Karina visibly cringed at the thought of Jennifer coming to arrest her. It was a highly disturbing mental image going far beyond the fear of being incarcerated. Due to their history together she was very unsure of exactly what Jennifer might actually put her through. Given Jennifer's position there was a whole range of options that were legally available to her former lover, most of which Karina hoped never to experience. As her anxiety worsened she began to think that she would be lucky if “mere” Wilmington Police Officers were to come for her.

  The large windowless ECC room where Karina sat was dimly lit allowing for better viewing of the three or more computer monitors that were placed in front of every dispatcher. The constant drone of people talking could be heard across the room as operators answered 911 calls or spoke on the radio to different emergency personnel. There was also an almost constant tapping sound of fingers on keyboards as dispatchers worked away tirelessly at numerous different computer consoles. Hanging from the ceiling at several different locations around the room were several sets of flat screen TV's. Most of them had the sound either muted or turned very low, but each one was tuned to a different news station. Located at the head of the room on an elevated platform was a supervisor's position also containing several computer monitors. The desk where someone normally would be seated was currently unoccupied. The seemingly insignificant disappearance of her supervisor made Karina even more anxious.

  She fidgeted in her chair as she glanced around the room doing her best to make her actions appear casual. While she still believed in the country’s need for change, she was now beginning to question if Darren’s or Occupy Congress’s tactics had possibly pushed her to go beyond what she had originally intended to do. These thoughts only served to increase her nervousness.

  Then suddenly it happened, Karina saw it. From across the room two Wilmington Police Officers and her female supervisor walked down the stairwell. One officer was older while the other was a little bit younger. These days there were so few rookies in circulation besides the one on John's squad, she assumed that the younger officer was there simply to observe an “unusual” arrest and to provide possible backup. Not that Karina planned to put up a fight, she knew she didn't stand a chance in a physical confrontation, nor would she risk hurting an officer that was just trying to do his job.

  As the Officers and her supervisor grew closer Karina tried to take some solac
e in the fact that her worst fears had been assuaged since there were no National Governing Police Officers present, especially Jennifer. Still, she felt as if her stomach was in a knot as she nervously moved about in her chair. A moment later the worst happened. Karina saw the NGP Officer walk casual down the stairwell and into the ECC. The middle aged male glanced around and then began to walk in Karina's general direction. It felt as if her heart had quite literally dropped into her stomach as her panic began to set in and she felt the nearly overwhelming desire to run. Had she believed she stood any possible chance of making an escape she would have fled. Her hands were shaking almost uncontrollably as she slowly pulled off her headset and tossed it on the counter in front of her. She took a quivering breath as the two officers and her supervisor reached her desk.

  The first time her female supervisor spoke to her, Karina only heard a mumbling sound, nevertheless she instinctively stood expecting one of the officers to grab her in order to place her in handcuffs. The second time the supervisor spoke to her the words were still incoherent in her mind and seeing the NGP Officer growing closer only made her apprehension worse. She stood quietly waiting for the officers’ next actions.

  “Karina...” the female supervisor repeated, “Do you have last night's recording of the vehicle pursuit of the robbery suspect.” Karina shook her head from side to side as the surprise set in.

  “What?” She asked in a confused tone. So great was her anxiety that she was now bracing herself on her desk to keep her knees from buckling. Before her supervisor spoke again Karina watched as the NGP Officer walked casually past her desk and over to another dispatcher.

  “Do you have a copy of the radio traffic from last night's car chase? These officers need it for further review.” Karina took a hard swallow as she struggled to gather her thoughts. All three individuals gave her a slightly confused look.