Nathan smiled. “Keep answering like this and you will walk out of here just fine,” Nathan assured him. “What were all the explosions we heard?”
“Some were choppers that found the Guard and others were large groups of civilians moving,” Keith answered, watching Nathan twirl the Tomahawk.
“What is ‘Operation Dark Titan?’” Nathan asked.
The color drained from Keith’s face as his eyes got big. “I don’t know where you heard that, but you need to forget it,” he said.
“If I ask again, you lose your left foot,” Nathan said, standing up.
“Okay, okay! Six months ago, NSA said there was a ninety-eight percent probability of a massive solar flare hitting the earth. It was projected to be much bigger than the Carrington Event. They gave a four-day window. We got orders that told us to be ready to corral the masses. The government was taking control. Operation Dark Titan was set in motion over a year ago for an event like this when the NSA found out they could predict solar flares reliably,” Keith answered.
“What about the EMPs?”
Closing his eyes, Homeland Boy took a deep breath. “The Air Force and CIA had killer satellites in orbit around the globe. When the flare hit, they detonated them worldwide.”
“How far up the chain?” Nathan asked.
“The top,” he answered, watching the Tomahawk.
“What other countries?” Nathan asked.
“Eighty percent of the U.N.,” he replied. “Seven other nations had killer satellites up with ours to make sure the masses could be contained.”
“Any uprising of the military?” Nathan asked.
Keith looked at him nervously. “Yes.”
After five minutes, Keith had offered no more new information. Nathan sighed. “How much of the military?”
“Almost all of SOCOM and forty percent of the active force. Seventy percent of the reserves and Guard units,” Keith answered.
Nathan was pleased with that answer. “How many U.N. troops are on U.S. soil now?”
“Last week there were one point two million here, with more coming, I don’t have current numbers,” Keith answered.
“How many can be expected?” Nathan asked.
Keith looked up helplessly. “Up to nine million.”
“Thank you,” Nathan said. He took the headphones off the major taking and put them on Keith, then put the feed bag over Keith’s head.
Grabbing the major’s legs he kicked at Nathan. “Boy, do that again and a foot comes off. It’s up to you how you answer. Keith did well and got water. Put your feet on the log or I start chopping,” Nathan commanded.
Slowly the major put his legs on the log. Nathan tied them down and held up another bottle of water. “First name?” he asked.
“Rusty,” he answered.
Nathan let him drink the bottle. Nathan asked the same questions and the answers were close till he got to numbers of U.N. troops expected. “What do you mean, ten million?” Nathan asked.
“That’s what I was told would be on the ground here in six months,” he answered.
“Who will be the main forces?” Nathan asked.
“China and Russia,” Rusty said.
“How are you handling the Midwest?” Nathan asked.
“We are only keeping the large population centers under control. Large farms are put under state control,” Rusty told him.
“Why did Keith tell me twenty million U.N. troops?” Nathan lied.
“Shit, he wouldn’t know. He would be able to tell you how many agents are in an area, but the military is working with the foreign units,” Rusty said.
“What did Arkansas’s governor think about his rogue troops?” Nathan asked.
“I don’t know. He was executed seven days ago, along with every other red state’s governor,” Rusty replied with a smirk.
“Wipe the smirk off or I’ll do it for you,” Nathan warned, twirling the tomahawk.
“Come on, we won. Cut me lose and we can work something out,” Rusty promised.
“I will cut you lose after I get answers. Keep up the answers and you can be back in your world in a few days. It shouldn’t take them too long to find you,” Nathan said standing up walking over to Keith taking the bag and headphones off Keith. He then put them on Rusty and continued the questions.
At noon, Nathan walked back to his group and told them all he found out. It was late afternoon when he finished. John summed it up the best. “We’re fucked.”
“Yeah, it’s fixing to go to hell in a hand basket,” Nathan agreed.
“What the hell do we do?” Jasmine asked.
He reached over and grabbed her hand. “Get home and start the fight.”
“What are you going to do with them?” she asked, motioning toward the prisoners.
“Can the horses leave tonight?” he asked.
“Yes but we have to go easy on them,” she said.
“When we leave I’ll cut them lose like I promised,” he said.
Amanda jumped up. “Like hell! Leave them tied to the tree. They knew about this and could’ve warned people. They killed my momma!”
Shaking his head, Nathan held up his hand. “I told them I would cut them lose,” he repeated. “Now that each of you knows what’s coming and what they are doing, do you want to turn yourselves in? If you are caught with me, we will be shot. Any soldier or law enforcement officer not reporting, is a deserter and considered a hostile.”
They all looked at each other and Jasmine looked at him. “We stay with you. Better to die on ground of our choosing on our feet than starving on our back,” Jasmine said.
Smiling at her, “Together then,” Nathan said holding out his arms. They all group hugged. “Get the horses ready,” Nathan said.
As the sun set Nathan led Smoke to the prisoners. “Gentlemen, I’m a man of my word.” Nathan said, walking over and cutting the ropes holding them to the trees. They moved over to Nathan and turned around so he could cut their hands lose.
Nathan took a step back and pulled his pistol out with the suppressor attached, placed the suppressor against Keith’s head, and pulled the trigger. Then Nathan shot Rusty before he even moved. Leaning down over the bodies, he cut the zip-ties off. “See you’re free, you pieces of shit, you can go now,” Nathan said. He turned and climbed up on Smoke.
Ares walked over to the two bodies and lifted his leg. “That’s telling them, Ares,” Nathan chuckled. He led Smoke to the others, who had watched. “I let ‘em go,” he said, moving past them. Looking at the bodies across the meadow, the others fell in behind Nathan.
Hearing the others behind him, Nathan took a deep breath, “I will keep them safe,” he vowed. Weaving through the trees, Nathan led them northwest, toward home. He didn’t like the odds, but he would do his best to get them home safe and sound.
About the Author
Thomas A. Watson lives in Northwestern Montana, but grew up in Doyline, Louisiana and Grenada, Mississippi. He moved to Shreveport, Louisiana to start a family. He graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelors in Science. Watson’s love of reading, which was instilled in him at a young age by his parents, inspired him to begin his writing career.
Working currently as an RN in an emergency room in Missoula, Watson loves the outdoors and taking time off of work.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my readers. To all those who provided support, read, wrote and offered comments. I would not be where I am today without all of you.
To my family: Thank you all for giving me the courage and strength to pursue my dreams. I love you very much. Nick, Khristian, and Phillip, you three make my days brighter.
To Monique Happy: Thank you. You have been a pleasure to work with, and your work is amazing. Thanks for the recommendation, Shawn Chesser, she truly is the best.
> And finally to my wife, Tina. Thank you for putting up with me and keeping my side of the bed warm on the long nights I was clicking away at the keyboard, for all your insightful input, and for just being there for me. I would have never made it this far without all your help and encouragement.
The Worlds of Thomas A. Watson
Thomas A. Watson has created an exciting and often terrifying array of worlds, including The Blue Plague series and Dark Titan: Journey, both available from Winlock Books in 2015.
Learn more about The Blue Plague
More about the Dark Titan series can be found on Dark Titan: Journey
… and you can stay in touch with Thomas and all his work at
Thomas A. Watson on Facebook
and
Thomas A. Watson on Twitter
Other Winlock Books You’ll Love
Winlock Press has a stunning range of post-apocalyptic adventures for fans of Thomas A. Watson. Be sure to click on the links below and enters the worlds of
David Lund’s Winchester: Over,
first in the Winchester Undead series!
The detonation of multiple nuclear warheads high in the atmosphere above North America destroys all the tools and devices of our modern lives, leaving the country in chaos. Next, an ancient virus is unleashed that steals death from humanity. Bexar Reed and his family, along with their lifelong friends and fellow preppers, were prepared for the end of the world as we know it. They thought they were prepared for nearly every possibility, but they never thought the dead would rise to hunt the living.
J Rudolph’s The Reanimates: The Complex,
first in The Reanimates series!
It took no time at all for Shelton’s Disease to spread from an ugly rumor on the internet to the end of the world as Cali Anglin, RN, knew it. Now the half-abandoned gated community that she has taken for granted is all that stands between her family and the endless, ravenous hordes of reanimates. And with the government gone, electricity extinguished, and the food supply dwindling, she has to face questions she’s never asked herself before: just how far would she go to save her family, her friends, her rapidly collapsing community? Would she kill for them? Would she die for them? She’s about to find out.
In the terrifying tradition of George Romero’s Day of the Dead and Mira Grant’s Feed, Julie Rudolph gives us a fresh and frightening look at the zombie apocalypse from the ground level, when ordinary people like you and me are forced to face extraordinary evil… and survive.
Tristan Vick’s Bitten: Resurrection,
first in the Bitten apocalypse series!
Rachael Ramirez has always been tough. Raising a son on her own in Newcastle City has made her that way. Alyssa Briggs, a Newcastle veterinarian, has always shown a gentler side. But when the world went crazy, and she literally ran into Rachael Ramirez as the risen dead overran them, everything changed. Now these bright and beautiful women will build a team of strange, courageous survivors, including a schizophrenic nymphomaniac, a narcissistic playboy, and a ragtag group of hardened soldiers: just what they need to stay alive in this weird new world. And none of them know that Rachael holds a shocking secret to the Resurrection Virus that may be the key to humanity’s salvation… or prove to be its worst curse.
Strong women and smart men in hand-to-hand combat with the walking dead, deep in the Big City. What more could you want in an apocalypse?
Dark Titan Journey: Wilderness Travel Page 36