Dream Killing

by Magus Tor

  *****

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  It wouldn’t have mattered if Drew and Max had set their alarms, the waves on the water would have been enough to wake them. The weather had turned pretty bad and everybody aboard was awake before the sun even rose. Drew made his way topside to find Max standing on deck watching the storm. No rain had fallen yet, but it wouldn’t be long until it would be coming down hard enough that visibility would be horrible.

  Drew let Sr. know to head back to the harbor. He knew that any work that needed to be done could be done so from the safety of land. He would keep Lewis at the harbor to watch for any signs of Mr. Thompson or Adam. They turned the boat around and in short time were back on solid ground.

  The van, driven by the second agent, brought them back to Drew’s place. Sr. would be better served by Drew’s high speed computer and large wall of monitors. All three of them were dying to see what they would find on the copied hard drive. As they got everything going, Max made them a small breakfast and a big pot of coffee.

  Drew’s hands shook as he plugged in the external hard drive. He stopped for a moment to get his composure. He was surprised at how nervous he was. Never, in all his time as a CIA agent, had he been this nervous about one aspect of his job; although, in all fairness, he never directly held the lives of thousands of people in his hands. Sure, he had been responsible for many people, but this type of killing was something he had never come up against. He was treading in new waters.

  Max secretly crossed her fingers as Drew opened the drive. There in front of them were approximately 100 files. Drew looked at the screen directly in front of him for a moment and then figured he’d tackle the files one at a time beginning with the first on the list. Sr. had other plans.

  “Wait!” Sr. startled Drew as he hovered the mouse over the first file.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Before you do that, let’s look at the names of all the files. I want to see if anything jumps out at me. He may have dummy files that will incinerate them all if clicked on. At least, that’s what I’d do.”

  As they read over the file names, they noticed that there was one for every city that had people dying, there were some that only had numbers as file names and then there was one that simply said, “The Game”. At the very bottom of the list was a file named, “Charlie”.

  “Drew, look, at the bottom. It’s a file named Charlie. Could that be Charles Thompson?” Max sounded excited.

  “Could be. What do you think, Sr.? Should we open it?”

  “Any one of these files could be rigged, but if I had to guess, I’d say they hadn’t thought of that tactic. I think it’s safe.”

  Drew opened the file and found multiple files inside. All of them seemed to be email correspondence. Rather than reading each one right away, Drew printed them out for Max to go over. The last sub-file wasn’t an email, but rather a list of some sort. Drew printed that out as well and then moved on.

  Avoiding the file marked “The Game” until everything else had been gone through, he began at the beginning and opened each of the files and printed everything that was inside. It took hours, but once completed, they stopped for a late lunch on the roof.

  When they reached the top of the steps to the roof, Sr. was once again impressed. It surprised Drew considering the house Sr. lived in. Sr. said it was refreshing to be back in civilization. He explained that he felt he needed to live where he did and have such a big house to fit in with those he worked with and for. He also explained that he hated it and would love to go back to a normal life surrounded by normal people. He stood at the edge of the roof watching the waves crash on top of themselves on the lake.

  The weather was holding, but it was definitely dark and ominous outside. They enjoyed half of their lunch and then the skies opened up and a torrential downpour ensued. Gathering up their lunch, they ran for cover, making it inside before the winds picked up to a dangerous speed. Drew heard something hit the window and saw that it was the string of lights from the roof.

  “We should probably get back to work in case we lose power,” Drew started, “We have generator backup, but I really hate to use that loud, old heap of metal.”

  They went back to the task of figuring out what everything meant. Max went through the emails to and from Mr. Thompson while Drew went over the information in the numbered files. Sr. was tasked with looking over the files in “The Game” folder.

  “Drew!” Max shouted.

  “What’s up?”

  “Listen to this. This is the first email and it is dated right around the time that Adam served Center-Tech with the phony court papers:

  Mr. Thompson:

  Attached you will find a copy of the documents I have created that will give me authority over the nano-chip technology. Brilliant plan on your part, I must admit. When served by my ‘attorney’, I trust you will respond in an appropriately angry manner. It will be a pleasure to work with you on this project. Adam

  “Can you believe it?” Max was amazed.

  “Well, I must say, my son definitely didn’t learn a thing watching me do business.” Sr. chuckled.

  “What do you mean?” Drew was curious.

  “First off, I would never do this kind of communication for major projects. Second of all, when I would have to email any information, I ensured that it was encrypted; even the files on my own computer. It’s almost as if he thought he’d never be caught.”

  They went back to the tasks each had been assigned. It wasn’t long before Max was reading another email aloud:

  A, The plans for the game are looking great. This will be perfect. If all works as planned, your father will be put away for a long, long time. Hell, he may even get the chair! The stubborn old coot won’t know what hit him! C.

  “Old, hah! I am two years older than that S.O.B.” Sr. snorted as he commented.

  “So, now we know that the two are working together. We have confirmation that Adam is definitely involved in the game. We need proof that their technology is causing the deaths. We have to be able to tie them to both. Right now we just have them for trying to frame Sr. and for mind control. We want them for murder.” Drew sounded like he was thinking aloud.

  Sr. looked over the files in the game folder and noticed that most of them were the programming files. The last one in the group was the executable file for the game. He stayed away from that one. He needed to look at the programming to see what changes had been made to his technology. If he could figure it out, he could figure out how the people were dying.

  Many of the emails that Max read were vague, but still implied a working relationship between Mr. Thompson and Adam. Drew flipped through page after page of his printouts. A lot of what he had in front of them was the same information they had gathered; order confirmations for the alarm clocks and shipping manifests showing how many clocks were sent to each city. What Drew was having a hard time figuring out was, how the clocks were manufactured to communicate or control when a chip is to be in use.

  “We have to watch for any email correspondence with the alarm clock manufacturer. We have to figure out how he has the chips and the clocks linked. It would’ve had to have been done during the manufacture of the clocks.” Drew was actually starting to feel overwhelmed for the first time in a long time.

  Max made it through the emails and needed to take a break before even looking at the list. As she read, she had highlighted everything that seemed to obviously incriminate the two men. Before taking a break, Max organized the emails in date and time order. Finding a collection of unused binders in the closet, she slipped each piece of paper into a page protector and created a book of correspondence. Drew was, once again, impressed with the way Max worked.

  The already dark day grew darker as nighttime approached. Drew checked in with Agent Lewis, but there had been no sign of the skiff, Mr. Thompson or Adam. He then called the Irish pub down the street to order some dinner, but he was told he would have to come pick up the order bec
ause he wouldn’t be sending anyone out in the bad weather.

  Max stayed at the apartment with Sr. while Drew went to get dinner. He decided that since The Bean was two doors down from the pub he would stop in and pick up some muffins for later. As he walked through the door, he was shocked to see Adam, standing on the customer side of the counter talking to the barista. He honestly didn’t know what to do.

  “Hey! Drew!” Adam sounded happy to see him.

  “Hey, Adam, what’s going on?” Drew tried to sound friendly.

  “Not much. Just stopped in to pick up some coffee and say hi.”

  “What happened to you? One minute you are working all the time and the next you quit. We miss seeing you around here.” Drew lied about the last part.

  “Well, I had something big come up that took a lot of my time, so I decided to quit and focus my time on the new project.”

  “It sounds big, what is it?”

  “Until I get it all squared away and finalized, I’d rather not say.”

  “That’s cool. Just stopped in to pick up some muffins, I’m really busy. Maybe we’ll see you around.”

  “Sounds great, Drew. Say hi to Max for me.”

  “Will do,” Drew said and then asked for half a dozen assorted muffins.

  As he walked from The Bean to the pub, Drew could not shake the adrenaline rush he was having. He couldn’t believe that Adam was there. How had Agent Lewis missed him coming in? Was he dropped off on shore when Thompson went to the harbor last night? If so, where was he staying? Drew was so tired of the questions. He became more determined than ever to find the answers.

  Drew returned with the enormous corned beef and cabbage sandwiches and muffins just in time for the power to go out as he made it halfway up the stairs. Hearing him in the stairwell, the agent made his way with a flashlight to help guide Drew back up to the apartment.

  “There are candles in the cabinet above the refrigerator,” Drew said as he walked through the door.

  Knowing that Max was too short to reach, Sr. went and grabbed the box from the cabinet and started pulling out the hurricane candles, setting them on the counter for Max to light.

  “Hurricane candles in Chicago?” Sr. found that quite odd.

  “I’m from the Virginia area originally. I always had to be prepared for a hurricane or strong storm hitting the coast.” Drew was very matter of fact as he set the food on the coffee table.

  Max grabbed the snack tables from the hall closet and they all grabbed their dinner as if they hadn’t eaten in days. Drew was thankful that it was cool outside. If it had been summertime, he would have no choice but to run the generator for the air conditioning. He was also thankful that Sr. knew what to do with the computer when the power went out. The power supply he had the computer plugged into allowed time for saving and logging off the computer.

  A precaution taken that proves beneficial at times like these. It would be a horrible setback if he had lost any of the information on the external hard drive.

  Since the power was still out after they finished eating, Sr. was unable to work on the programming files. They all took a chunk of the printouts and began going through them with a fine toothed comb. There were close to a thousand pages of information, but between the four of them, they hoped they would be able to find something more than what they already had.

  The list that Max found in the file marked ‘Charlie’ was a series of 30 names; none of which looked familiar to any of them. Max took a picture of the list with her cell phone and emailed it to her contact. They would be able to do a search to find out exactly who these people were.

  The time flew quickly in the candlelit room as the four poured over page after page of information. At about 11:00 pm the weather tapered off to a light and steady rain, the wind settled down to a breeze and the power came back on. Thankful for the power to return, but weary from the hours of looking at information for hours on end, they decided it was best to pick up where they left off after a good night’s rest.

  Sr. was taken back to the ‘safe house’ by the agent and Max and Drew headed off to plug in their alarm clocks and go to bed. While lying there, Drew told Max about the encounter with Adam. He explained that he didn’t want to tell her in front of Sr. on the off chance that he was somehow connected. After they talked about Adam being at the coffee shop, they fell asleep.

  *****

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Back in the game, Drew found himself sitting on the wall watching the children swing. He felt relieved that they were still in the game, although, unless they are making kills while he isn’t around, he knew their lives had to be winding down to a low number. He would have to check their watches. As he climbed off the wall, he heard Max.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’ve gotta check the kid’s watches. They have to be getting low.”

  “Stop, Drew, I already checked. It’s weird, they are all at 99.”

  “Ninety-nine? We need to make sure they don’t hit 100.”

  “I told them to stick by us and not shoot anybody. I think they all understood and got the picture.”

  Drew sat back up on the wall and looked out over the water. The day was overcast, but he could tell that the sun was pretty much directly overhead making it around noon. It was much colder than it had been since he started the game, and he found himself shiver at the thought. When he looked over at Max he could tell that she was getting cold also. He knew the kids had to be getting cold, so the gathered everybody up and they started toward the harbor.

  As they walked alongside the path, they could hear a commotion off to their right in the city. Urging the kids to stay low, he told Max to get her gun ready. While she stayed with the children, Drew made his way, slowly, to the edge of the park closest to the building lined street. From the cover of some shrubs and a park bench, Drew could see that a large riot was beginning to form. Not only were people shooting at each other, but there was hand to hand fighting, people were tipping cars over on other people, bottles were being thrown and the robot stood back at the end of the block, watching it all happen.

  Drew tried not to think about anything except getting back to Max and the kids. He knew they had to get to safety. Not that I know what safety is anymore in this game. Drew thought to himself as he hurried back through the park. With every step he took towards the path, the louder the crowd got. He turned to look back and realized that the crowd was heading his way. He moved his feet faster, knowing that with every step he was drawing the crowd closer to Max and the kids.

  He reached the spot where he last saw them and found no trace of them, happy that Max had been one step ahead of him. He ran to the shed and went in knowing that there was another door on the back. He locked the door from the inside and then exited, being careful not to make a sound. Knowing that just on the other side of the wall was the beach, he quickly climbed up and over until he was dangling precariously on the other side.

  Drew looked down and realized that the jump from there was about ten feet. He had no choice but to chance it. Without any further thought, Drew launched himself down and out and let himself roll out the landing. He hit hard, but was able to recover and run along the wall toward the harbor.

  He could hear the sound of the angry men pounding on the shed. He then heard the sounds of the shed being torn apart. Hoping that Max decided to make her way to one of the boats, Drew climbed the ladder up the side of the wall he reached that led to the parking area for the Harbor. Halfway up the ladder he looked toward the shed. It was all but gone, but nobody was at the wall.

  Knowing that nobody was watching the beach, Drew made his way up to the street and looked around. He could hear the crowd and the shooting, but he couldn’t see anyone. He didn’t know if they gave up on him or if they were working their way through the park. He had almost no time to make it to the boat, so he ran faster.

  Drew went to the last boat they were on and found it empty. With all the commotion at the park, he figur
ed they wouldn’t hear him, so he started calling for Max. Nobody answered. He ran up one side of the pier and back down the other side, but boat after boat was empty. It was growing even colder and he was getting worried about the kids.

  Thinking that maybe she decided to get the kids indoors, Drew decided to try and make his way back to the library in hopes of finding them there. Taking a huge chance, he ran right up the street alongside the harbor, realizing that the angry crowd hadn’t given up on him when a street sign just above his head was hit by a bullet. Instinctively he ducked his head as he ran.

  When he reached the car lined street, Drew hid behind car after car until he reached a dark alley. When he got about halfway down the alley, a bullet ricocheted off of a dumpster and he knew they were still on his tail. He dove behind another trash can, reached his gun around and fired on the people coming at him.

  Drew saw a broken window on the ground level of the building across the alley from him, stood up facing the crowd coming his way and began firing as he flew across and threw himself through the opening. He picked himself up and left the room, winding his way through a maze of cubicles. He heard a crash behind him and before long, he could smell smoke. He realized that in all the time he had been playing the game, he had never seen fire or smoke…until now.

  More than ever, Drew needed to keep moving. At one point he was forced to crawl to avoid breathing in the heavy smoke that was quickly filling the first floor of the building. He found his way to a hallway and slithered on his belly to the first door he could find. He reached up and felt for the doorknob. When he was finally able to pull the door open, he slid inside and turned on his flashlight. Hell no, he thought to himself as he looked around.

  The room was a large storage room that housed a number of oxygen tanks and some other chemicals including hospital grade antiseptic cleaners and some others he was not familiar with. He slid his way back out of the closet, pulled his shirt up over his mouth and nose and made a run for it. At that point he didn’t care who he encountered; he preferred the prospect of a bullet over what was potentially to happen next.