by Tim Yingling
The dining room wasn’t full at all. As I walked in, I instantly noticed I was the only one with a weapon. Most of the others in the room had to be upper-level staff for Elizabeth. I did spot two people I knew. Two people who didn’t want me in the room, or any room in the White House, except the prison, for that matter.
I ignored Stone and Brad, making a beeline for the food. Plates were on the left of the food table. I took one and quickly moved down the line throwing chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, four rolls, and even Saulsberry steak on my plate. Lacey tried to keep up with my quick movements. She just didn’t understand how hungry I was for actual food like this. Breakfast was amazing earlier in the morning, but this is a dinner meal. I wanted to get everything I could.
I found an empty table not too far away from the food table. Eyes were on me as I tossed my plate down and moved to the drink station. There was alcohol, but I wanted something else. I tried to steer clear of carbonated beverages while we walked (I don’t count that first day, I was tired), but I’m not walking now. I wanted my Dr. Pepper.
I stacked two cans on two others before moving back to the table. Lacey was already seated and eating. I sat my drinks down and dug in. Normally, I am a picky eater. Separating my food before eating it didn’t appeal to me then. I wanted food and I got it. Everything seemed to just enter my mouth all at once. It usually takes me fifteen minutes to eat, but I downed that whole plate in just under five. I hadn’t eaten that fast since I was in Basic Training. I knew I was going to be paying for it later.
I hadn’t noticed, but Elizabeth entered the room. My face was still buried in my diminishing food when she came in. Everybody else stood except for me. I wouldn’t have stood even if I did notice her.
Lacey leaned down to tap my shoulder, but I heard Elizabeth say, “Don’t bother. Let him eat.”
I still didn’t lift my head. I had a little bit of meat left on the chicken leg. That didn’t stop Elizabeth from talking to me.
“I hope your accommodations are to your liking.”
I placed my hand over my mouth to speak. I may be an asshole to people, but I’m not a fucking asshole. It didn’t matter how hungry I was. I still had to address her.
“They’re fine. But did you have to do that to the Lincoln Bedroom?”
Elizabeth laughed as if we were old friends. That bothered me even more than her acting like the President.
“It will go back to normal as soon as everybody’s room is ready in the Ambassador Hotel,” she said as she walked away.
In my head, I could see what I was going to do to her right there. I wanted to stand up and Frisbee my plate at the back of her head. No using a firearm for what I was about to do. I would jump over the table, take her by her light brunette hair, and slam her face on the closest table to her. Then I would proceed to place her in a rear-naked choke hold until she stopped struggling. Then I would snap her neck.
But, as you know, I wouldn’t do that. I wanted to play with her mind a little more. It would be more fun that way.
And surprisingly, I lost the rest of my appetite. I was going to go back for seconds and some dessert, but the sight of her disgusted me.
“Where do I take my plate?” I asked Lacey.
She pointed to a window behind the food table. “Place it there. If you don’t mind waiting, I should be done in about five minutes.”
I waved her off. “Don’t worry about it. I am going back to my room to get some sleep before the mission in the morning.”
She didn’t have time to speak. I moved away as fast as I could. An older lady of cafeteria helper caliber took my plate with no smile. I did offer one to her, though. I then moved out of the dining room before anyone else could talk to me. I only wanted to get some sleep before my mission started.
* * * *
Thursday, 30 June 2016 (Morning)
Washington D.C.
691 Miles to Pilgrim, Indiana (385 Miles to Commerce, WV)
I woke at 0400 HRS. It was good I did. It gave me time to get some coffee. Besides the Dr. Pepper, coffee is the thing I missed the most to drink. I quickly got dressed in black cargo pants, a gray t-shirt, and my boots. This time, my FLK would be coming with me.
I exited the room to find Alstead with three of his guys standing in the hallway. They turned to me in the position of attention. Thankfully, they didn’t salute. I didn’t want to gun them down right there. Although, looking at them, I didn’t want to gun them down anyway.
Alstead was easily the oldest of the four, and he couldn’t be any older than twenty-two. I was taking babies with me. Babies that I would have to find some way of getting out of the way now. I wasn’t going to kill them.
Alstead stepped forward, asking, “Are we leaving now?”
The other three cowered away from me as I spoke. “No, I want to get a little bit of food in our bellies first. Especially some coffee.”
I lead the way to the dining room. Instead of an extravagant meal laid out, there were only jugs for the coffee this time on the table. That didn’t affect me. I could live off coffee and cigarettes. I have before.
I poured myself a cup and was quickly followed by Alstead and his team. I didn’t care that I was in the White House. I lit up a cigarette and enjoyed them both.
Alstead poured a cup of water and sat down beside me. “I think I’ll join you on that.”
I didn’t say anything to him. I didn’t want to get too attached.
Close to thirty minutes after we entered the dining room, two men walked in with flight suits on. I recognized the man who entered second as the pilot of the chopper. The other man was his navigator. Both of them did as we did. They walked over to get their coffee. With a cup that threatened to spill over, the pilot walked over to my table and sat down. The navigator walked to the table behind Alstead to sit with Alstead’s team.
“I guess I am flying for you today, Sir,” the pilot said. “Name’s Smalls. Christopher Smalls.”
“Well, Chris, my name is not ‘sir.’ Nor will I ever be a ‘sir.’ Call me Byron or Sarge, but never sir. We’re all civilians here, not military.”
A little twinkle flicked in his eye. Chris seemed to want to wink at me but was unsure about the company. I didn’t know what to make of that at the time, but I would find out.
Chris and I made small talk about the mission for the next twenty minutes. It was still just a show for me. I wanted to make it look like I was playing along. They would soon find out I am not on their side.
After my second cup of coffee down, I stood up and said, “It’s time, gentlemen.”
Alstead looked at his watch. “We still have thirty minutes until we’re supposed to take off.”
“I know. But I also want to get to my family.”
Chris stood up and walked to the door, followed by his navigator. I waited back for Alstead to gather his crew and their weapons before I started out. I don’t know what it was, but they seemed to be wanting to take their time. Something did feel off to me there. I wanted to scrap the mission because of what they were doing. I wouldn’t though. There were people in the basement depending on me. I had to push on for them if not for me.
It was a long walk to the helicopter. Not long in the sense of time, but in my mind. There were so many scenarios running through my head. I couldn’t stop my mind from analyzing all of them. The worst part about it was that only a handful of the scenarios were a success for me. The odds definitely were not in my favor.
Chris waited outside the side door to the chopper. “You ready for this?”
I looked at the chopper closely. Two M240’s were mounted on either side of the Black Hawk, but there was no one manning them. The navigator was already in his seat awaiting the flight. Alstead sat with his back to the pilots with two of his men on either side of him. The third sat against the back wall.
“Where are your door gunners?” I asked. I was honestly mystified by this. Why mount the guns in anticipation of a fight if you don’t have gunners? This was
not working in my favor in the least.
“We can use your guys if we must. And I have a strong feeling that we will be using your guys.”
This time he dropped me a wink before motioning with his head for me to enter the helicopter. I looked in to see Alstead’s men nodding to me. Alstead himself was looking at the ground. Almost as if he was asleep.
As I entered, Chris said to me, “Your headset is on the hook behind your head.”
I looked to my left at the headset. As I sat down I put it on. Everyone else already had theirs on.
Chris entered the Black Hawk, starting it up immediately. It would still be another two to three minutes before we would take off. I looked back at the White House, with its security team moving around on the grounds and roof of the house. If I did survive the first part of this mission, then these people would have no idea what was coming their way. I looked to the Oval Office windows. Elizabeth stood there with something in her hand. I could only guess that it was coffee. She had no business being up this early.
The blades of the Black Hawk spun fast. I could feel their downdraft from the open door of the gunner’s position. It was something I would never get used to. The heat coming in from the downdraft is something that is a comfort when it’s cold, but not when it’s in the low nineties at 0540.
I had to look at the floor because of the heat. As I did, I noticed something I didn’t before. The Black Hawk had ropes in it. Fast ropes to be exact. They were already attached to the hooks so all we had to do was push them out of the side door so we could slide down to the ground.
I don’t know what everyone had planned here, but my chances of success were looking more and more slim. Before I could protest that I had a problem with the mission, we were already in the air twenty feet. It was too late to do anything but go through with what I had planned.
The helicopter flew into the west, with D.C. falling further and further behind us. I waited ten minutes before I made my move. At first, my move was going to be a glamorous one. I was going to incapacitate the soldiers before knocking the navigator out then turning my pistol on the one person I needed, the pilot. But with everything that I have seen, I decided against my original plan. Something was going on there. I had to find out before I did anything.
“Hey, Chris,” I said, waiting for him to acknowledge me. “What do you have fast ropes already hooked up for?”
It wasn’t Chris’s movements that startled me. Alstead moved lightning fast.
He lunged at me, pulling his knife out of its sheath. I reacted fast enough, but there were three others that acted faster. The two men sitting on either side of Alstead took his arms, pulling him back into his seat. The kid on Alstead’s right knocked the knife out of his hand. The kid on Alstead’s left throat chopped Alstead. Alstead instantly stopped fighting.
The kid sitting to my left said to me, “We’re here to help you, Sir.”
I looked from one kid to the next to the next. They had the same look I use to see in Tom’s eyes. They would die for me; and yet, they didn’t even know me.
Before I could say anything, a gunshot rang out in the cramped cabin. I looked past the detained Alstead to the front of the chopper. The navigator was lowering his pistol while the former Christopher Smalls slumped against his door. Luckily for us, he didn’t fall forward onto the yoke. That would have been devastating.
“Okay, I need to know what is happening here,” I said.
The navigator is the one who answered me. “Hang on a minute. I have to put us down to talk to you. I want to do it face to face.”
I didn’t reply. There was no need. He was already putting the Black Hawk down. We were close to two hundred feet in the air, it wouldn’t take us that long to land.
Once down, he turned off the helicopter. It took another two minutes for everything to wind down. The navigator was the first to step out. He quickly moved around the nose to the pilot’s door. The two boys on either side of Alstead kept their pistols on him while the navigator pulled Chris’s lifeless body out of the chopper.
After dumping the body on the ground, the navigator opened the side door to let us out.
“You first, Sir,” the kid next to me said.
I said to him as I exited the helicopter, “You call me sir one more time I am going to shoot you.”
“Fair enough.”
The kid followed me. I stood next to the navigator as the kid turned to Alstead and the other two. He pulled his pistol, aiming it at Alstead.
“Get out slowly, Alstead,” the navigator said.
Alstead listened to him. He allowed the young lads to guide him out of the helicopter. Once out, the navigator said, “Take his clothes, his boots, and his weapons, then release him.”
I turned to protest the action. Well, not all of it. I would have at least left him his boots. But I couldn’t get one word in. The navigator motioned for me to follow him. The three others did as they were told.
He spoke as we walked, “My name is Curtis Wicks. The tall one over there” – he pointed to the guys who were already stripping Alstead of his clothes – “is Drew Henley. The short one is his little brother, Glenn. And the other one is Kevin Benoit. I know you are extremely confused by what is going on here, but I can tell you this much. We were advised that it was in our best interest to listen to you. And most importantly, to help you get out of there.”
I had to stop him. “By whom?”
As a joke, Curtis said, “For once, someone got that correct.” Then he got serious. “I am not at liberty to say. He said that he owed you one and that I should get you away from D.C. then let you go.”
“I’m not leaving those people back there. I need you to fly me back there to save all those people in the basement.”
Curtis nodded. “Our mutual friend said you would say something like that. He told me to tell you that he has it covered. You do not owe those people back there anything. We can handle it.” He looked to his left as Drew, Glenn, and Kevin guided Alstead to us. “You start hiking out of here to the north. I don’t care where you go, but don’t go back to D.C. It will be uninhabitable within the next twenty-four hours.”
Alstead looked to me for help. I guess he thought I would help him because of our talk the morning before. He must have forgotten that he tried to stab me no more than fifteen minutes before. All the same, I said to him, “I saw a town about three miles north. Find someplace to hold up there and you should be alright.” He wanted to say something, but I interjected, “I don’t know what the problem is, but these guys obviously wanted to kill you like Curtis did the pilot. Someone protected you. Take your second chance and get the fuck out of here.”
Alstead took the hint. He turned and high tailed it with the sun rising to his right. We waited until he hit the wood line before we started talking again.
“I’m getting back on that chopper with the four of you, Curtis. Whether the mystery man likes it or not. I have two people I promised to protect. And I will get them to their families with or without your help.”
Curtis wasn’t pleased by my constant bickering. “We don’t have time for this. . .”
“Then stop fucking arguing. Start that son-of-a-bitch up and let’s get back to the White House. I’ve already concocted a plan of action for when we get there.”
Curtis looked to the boys. They stayed as silent as they have been. When he looked back at me, he sighed. He moved his hand in a circular motion for me to explain.
“It’s simple. You four were planning on staging somewhere, or going to pick some others up and then stage. But the point is, you weren’t planning on doing the attack today. You were going to wait until either tomorrow or the day after. There is only one problem with that. If you wait that long, Alstead will have found a way back to the White House by then and informed them of the proposed coup that is being planned.” The look I received was not pleasant. Curtis wanted to say something, but I continued. “He overheard you saying something about this mystery guy that wants m
e out of the White House for when the attack does happen. Now, the other problem. They are expecting us back sometime tonight. We can convince them that we did stop for the night. I would say around 1000 HRS tomorrow is when they are going to start getting worried about where we are and send out a search party for the chopper. Even if you disabled the GPS, they will still be searching for you. The last problem is going to come with the fact that you killed Chris. The Comms people won’t be too worried that you’re the one talking to them, Curtis. But when someone higher than whoever is on the radio asks about our situation and the operator says that you continue with the updates, they will get a little worried.” I stopped to look at my watch. “We’ve only been gone about fifty minutes. I’m guessing you have to give an update in the next ten.”
Curtis knew he had to answer. “No. Every six hours by phone. Otherwise, they will send out someone to check on us.”
“There’s another problem. They’ll only hear five voices when they should hear seven. I know these three boys won’t understand the problem, Chief. But, if I’m right about your past, then I know you see the problems.”
Curtis lowered his head. “Yeah, I do see the problems. So, you obviously have a plan. What is it?”
“You have the 240s set up on the doors. You were going to use them in your attack. And we can still use them. Put me on one of those fuckers and let me mow some of those professionals down on the roof. Once the roof is open, myself and one of the boys, don’t care who it is, will rope down and enter the White House. You and the other two will continue to fly around the grounds taking out anyone else who comes to fight. Don’t worry about what happens to me inside, I’ll take care of that end. You just need to keep people out of our way.”
Glenn spoke up. Not only was his face angelic but his voice matched his face. I didn’t want to take any of them with me into the White House. “What makes you think you can get through the White House safely?”
“How old are you kid?” I had to know who I was going to be using.