“For how long?” Greg asked.
Adam’s lips widened slightly, “Time is only a moment in memory. We will be reunited when our roads again cross, my friend. Don’t concern yourself with lengths and hours and durations, instead focus on plans and success. Find the voice. Find the soldier. Tell them exactly what I’ve told you to say. Leave nothing out. Fear no rejection. No man can harm you other than yourself. I’ll be one step ahead of you all along the way. You’ll be four steps ahead of everyone else. As you have always been, friend.”
“Why can’t I go with you?” he asked.
“I am no mere man, as you have already astutely observed, thus rending advanced cowardly means of attack quite useless. As the black sheep has no doubt informed you, the bomb is coming to destroy this lovely city. Do you want to be in those safe confines or out on the street waiting to get a tan? “Adam said and opened the door. “I’m not like you. Fire is my friend, you could say. It can do no more damage than a cool breeze does to your fleshy limitations. You, my friend, do not possess the same luxury, so you will need to stay out of harm’s way for a little while. Take my watch, timer is already set. Not to mention, I have other cities to plunder while you’re fulfilling your end of the deal. You focus on spreading the message, and I’ll focus on paving the way, agreed?”
Greg was reduced to a silent observer. He was not a blind follower, but there was no sense in disagreeing. He understood his objective, and Adam trusted him to fulfill his end of the arrangement.
“Agreed.”
-
Marcel Reyes, the finest drone pilot in America, stood as Conrad approached him. The wrinkles in his cheeks and brow were not on his face this morning, his appearance betrayed his efforts to smile as if Operation Red Wave’s success did not feel like a massive failure. Under normal circumstances, Conrad would individually debrief each soldier directly after completion and save all private discussions for a later date. Operations were stressful, and unless there was immediate action needed, Conrad preferred to encourage early and refine later.
“A moment, sir.” Reyes said, offering his hand to shake. He knew Conrad’s typical after-operation rituals, which made his request confusing.
“Right now?”
“Sir, yes, sir.” Reyes replied. He looked over to Gathe and nodded his head. They shared a moment before Conrad led him to the far corner of the room. The small space left little privacy, but Reyes wanted to be isolated from the only other person in the room.
As they moved outside of Gathe’s earshot, Reyes said, “Sir, I reviewed Gathe’s recon-records after impact. There were three distinct reads on heat that could have been civilian life.”
Conrad understood where this was headed and said, “There are frequent indefinable bursts of energy before any explosive impact. You know this.”
“That’s what I thought, sir, so I reviewed it twice. These heat bursts showed a positive sign of human life.”
“Are you saying Gathe…?”
Reyes interrupted him, “Directly ignored operation procedure and the rules of engagement, sir. I understand he’s a wonder boy, but he might have just killed the only possible survivors in Salt Lake City.”
“How many?”
“As many as ten, as few as three. Depends on the reliability of the sat.”
“Thank you, I’ll take care of it. Unless you hear anything directly from me, keep this confidential.”
“Sir, yes, sir.”
If this was true, the ramifications would be detrimental to the United States Military and, specifically, President Watt. This was a war-crime of the highest order. American soldiers do not kill American civilians. Especially if they are the last remaining survivors of a major American downfall. Under normal circumstances, Conrad would have approached Gathe directly and aggressively, but due to the sensitive nature, he decided it would be better to speak with President Watt instead. This would allow Uriah to make the decision on how to move forward. Mission debrief with President Watt and Sergeant Major Marshall would take place tomorrow morning.
-
The cobwebs were still in Mickey’s head, but he was awake. The electricity from the taser still pulsed in his nerves, and the excitement from knowing he saved Shelly gave him a major energy boost. The room was too small to be bouncing off the walls, so he sparked up a conversation with Mona.
“This isn’t how I thought it would end, but we made it,” he said.
She was different compared to this morning; after he and Greg came into The Commodore, he wasn’t willing to look at anyone like a leader, let alone make a new friend. Mickey had enough of leadership with words and self-justified actions. Now, sitting here, he saw her purity and felt like he could understand her depth better than before. Not that he shared it, but he felt like they were connected.
“Oh, it ain’t over. No fat ladies singing here. And trust me, we didn’t make it,” she said.
“What do you mean? We’re here. This is where we survive. Right?”
“Survive? For sure. But live? Make it? Nope. This is a detour. This is the beginning of a long war.”
“Oh, well yeah, that makes sense. I guess I’m just saying that, ya know, I wouldn’t have thought we would end up here.”
“I got ya,” she said, “it’s only a matter of time before we take the next steps. Adam is going to spread his darkness over the world, and we’re the ones who will stand against him. You showed yourself and the rest of us something special when you stood up against that dog. You’re a warrior, Mickey, and you are going to save even more lives because of your bravery. I’m so proud of you. Shelly is alive because you were willing to stand up for her. You have so much potential and such a great heart. You’re so important to our purpose. I can’t wait to see what you’ll do next.”
“Well, yeah, I guess I never thought of that.” Mickey said. No one had ever spoke to Mickey like this. Mona was loving, honest, and really cool as she talked about Mickey having potential. Not even Mickey’s coaches back in high school would have talked to him this way. No one. Not even his mom.
“But, while we are here, we will have plenty of time to learn about one another. Recharge the batteries and talk shop.” Mona said, and smiled as Jenna came into their circle.
“Mona, I did the rations, exactly as you told me. Mickey and me, we, we counted exactly the number of meals and required foods per person, but we’re short. Even without Greg, we don’t have enough. I thought I loaded up everything we would need into the one cart, but half of what we have has some of that nasty dust on it, and now it is rotten. I know it’s only a few days, but we’re going to come out hungry.”
Mickey spoke up and was glad to help, “Did you count Mona and Asher? Cause they don’t need to eat or drink. So that’s probably where the numbers didn’t stack up.”
“I know, Mickey. I know. I counted five people. Me, Shelly, you, Harry, and Tink. Five. But when the dogs chased us, both of our carts tipped over. That stupid dust seeped through some of the other cans. And almost every glass jar broke. All we only have a few canned foods and the water. Five people. Not enough. You said if we didn’t follow every direction perfectly, we would die. We’re not going to die, are we?”
“Calm down, girl. It’ll be okay. Do we have enough for four?” Mona asked.
“Well yeah, we have enough for four. But…” Jenna was confused. She leaned in and whispered, “Is Harry not going to make it? Is he going to die?”
Mona shook her head. “No, no. Harry will be fine. Better than fine, really. But only four of you will actually need to eat or drink,” she said and winked to Mickey.
“What?” Mickey asked.
“Let me tell you a story, Mick,” Mona said. “There was this young man, a bit of a goofball, but he had a heart of gold. He had regret. He had mistakes, but his story took a turn once he risked his life to save someone else. Then, in the moment of his decision to be heroic, he stood up against a dog with a taser, but not just any taser, this very special taser didn’t have any power. I
t had never worked. But this goofball with a heart of gold didn’t know any better and didn’t care. All he wanted to do is save someone else’s life. No matter the cost to his own.”
She pulled out the taser from her pocket. “Shelly gave this to me. You were in such a hurry, no one checked to see if it had a battery. Let alone see if it worked.”
“Whoa,” Mickey said.
“Whoa is right. Ya see, it is like I said; pieces are moving, the darkness is growing, but so are we. Mickey, you’ve been a warrior this whole time and never knew. The power charging inside of you is bigger than just zapping a rapid dog. You can light up cities, regions, shoot, maybe even power the world. Wolves ain’t nothing more than big dogs. They don’t stand a chance against you. The feeling you have inside you, it’s the same as I have, and Asher too. It comes out different, sure. But it’s a trip huh? It’s like drums beating on your skin. It’s called The Pulse. This type of power gave Asher the ability to kill off dozens of wolves, imagine five of us, and imagine ten. We could save so many lives. Now imagine someone so powerful, so filled with this Pulse, he is able to wipe out the entire population of wolves. Even Adam doesn’t stand a chance against him. Our Hero is out there. Those of us with The Pulse are called to help him save the world.”
“Does that mean I don’t get to eat anymore?”
“It means you’re no longer human.”
The Chat
Bryce Chapman
Radical/Founder
4/15/2016
There is an old saying, “those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.” This is why I never went back to the Steve’s Drag Bar, experience taught me this place is not a drinking establishment filled with fans of drag racing.
Can you learn from history if it is never recorded? Our nation has been founded on principles of victory and honor, as if we have been undefeated and unblemished. This is why our nation is so deeply burned by mass shootings, acts of terrorism, and major environment tragedies. We are appalled by our own weakness, because we are taught only our strengths.
Have you ever heard of Peshtigo, Wisconsin? Probably not.
On the night of October 8, 1871, a massive fire burned the town to the ground. The 1800s weren’t primitive; there was enough concrete and steel to prevent the town from turning into oversize bonfire. Yet, that’s exactly what happened.
What does this have to do with anything?
1. I believe this is a history purposely not taught, due to the all-too-perfect coincidence of taking place the same day as the Great Michigan Fire and the Great Chicago fire (you may have heard of that one). Somehow, they are not connected due to the large body of water separating them (since, ya know, fire cannot travel over a bay). I haven’t done enough (any) research on this conspiracy, but I would bet your paycheck something else was going on there. Why would we teach history we cannot explain? Moreover, why would we teach history we do not want to explain?
2. I believe we will start learning about Peshtigo (and to a lesser extent Michigan and Chicago) because FEMA and politicians will need to find believable parallels to distract us from asking further questions.
3. Then, we will learn how Salt Lake City and Peshtigo had similar weather conditions and may have been the result of the same phenomena.
Tomorrow, I’m going to publish an interview with Jacob Oberhausen, resident of Fruit Heights, Utah and a husband who misses his wife. Somehow, the quarantine is allowing me to speak to him. By phone, no video feed. With a chaperone. I hope you will check back in tomorrow and see if my suspicions and frustrations are grounded. I hate to sound like an aluminum-foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist, but I can’t help it. Something is seriously wrong.
I’ve learned from my history - trust your gut, ask too many questions, and say thank you when you’re done.
Be Radical.
-bc
THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!
See you again Fall 2016!
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Dark Genesis (Shadow and Shine Book 1) Page 34