Deep Freeze: Protocol One, Book 2 (Protocol One Saga) (3 page)

Anna

Controlled by emotions and driven by a little fear, I didn’t think things through clearly. That realization came when my nose felt sunburned and my fingers slightly numb. With wind blasting negative temperatures at me, I wasn’t going to make it very long before I suffered the effects of being ill prepared outside in the elements.

I figured I had roughly three hours of daylight left and weighted my options. I could continue on and maybe make it another hour or I could head back the two blocks, get to our bags and grab the Arctic Armor. I weighed my choices. While going back and redressing would eat up time, it still allotted me more search time out in the cold.

Heading back, I looked ahead and once more saw that parking lot. I counted the levels. There were ten of them. That was where I needed to go after I redressed in appropriate clothing. It would give me the advantage of seeing what I could not from the ground level.

My boots were the only specialized piece of clothing I wore. The coat I had on did give some protection, it was arctic gear, but it was bulky, I wasn’t layered in clothing and it did little to stop the wind from seeping into the jacket. We unloaded every single bag from the Humvee, so my survival through it all was not in question. I believed I had all I needed and plenty of shelter around me. Tony was my main concern.

One of the duffle bags was named the stranded bag. It was packed as a ‘just in case’ we did get stranded. It contained Mylar blankets and Mylar sleeping bags, Armor-All long underwear and suits called Arctic Armor. The whole bag weighed maybe fifteen pounds if that. I remember first seeing the Arctic Armor and laughing. Bibbed pants and coats that were lightweight. The boots weren’t even a challenge to walk in. No way would they work. How wrong I was. We tested them while temperatures outside the bunker were as low as negative thirty. Not once did I get cold or feel the wind. Of course our tests were limited to one hour, but I had all the confidence in the world that the suits would work under the current conditions.

I held high hopes as I approached the casino that Tony would be back, that somehow we missed each other in passing.

Please, be back. Please.
I begged in my mind as I made it to the canopied main entrance.

There was also a chance that someone else had made it in the Casino, so as I entered the door, I pulled out my gun.

Once inside I called out. “Tony.”

No response. A sickening feeling hit me. I had wished and prayed he was there. He wasn’t.

After calling out once more, I unzipped my coat and fumbled for my flashlight to make my way back across the large casino.

My focus again was getting back to my bags, not really looking too much around. I’d have time when I returned because obviously, I wasn’t going anywhere. I made a mental note here and there about things I saw, things that would aid in my all night survival.

Half way across the casino floor, I heard it. In the empty large room it was loud.

Peter calling out.

“This is Protocol One trying to reach Team A and T. Do you read? Anna? Tony? You there? Over.”

I hurriedly raced across the room toward the dim light of the doorway where I left the belongings. I thought we left the radios in the Humvee. We didn’t and they were still working.

“This is protocol One, Anna? Tony? Come in.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” I said and when I arrived at the bags, I searched through. Where was it coming from? Where was Tony’s backpack? I had just tossed everything in the corner.

Peter’s radio call was steady, he paused only a few seconds in between each call, which gave me the tracking signal I needed to find the bag. The bags sprawled around the floor, as I finally found the backpack sandwiched against the wall.

I unzipped the bag and pulled out the radio.

With a nervous voice and slightly out of breath, I replied. “Protocol One this is Anna. I hear you. Over.”

Pause.

The voice switched. It no longer was Peter. “Oh, thank God,” Gil said. “Anna, we got the report from Damnation Alley. They said you were stranded. Over.”

“Roger that,” I said. “About as stranded as one could get right now. We stopped to help a survivor and the vehicle was hijacked. We did unload our bags in case of trouble so I have supplies. Over.”

“How in the world did you lose the vehicle? Over.”

“Please don’t ask. It was a sequence of events.”

“Why didn’t you radio us?” Gil asked. “Why did you radio Damnation Alley?”

I hesitated before answering. Getting into the fact that Gwen left her BlackBerry in the Humvee was trivial, so I avoided being honest. “They responded for some reason. Maybe the wrong channel,” I said. “But you got the message. Over.”

“We’re gonna get a rescue team to you. Over.”

“Gil, you need to wait. The weather is really bad.  Besides, I can’t leave until I find Tony. Over.”

“Wait. Find Tony?”

“He ran after the people that took the Humvee. He never returned. Over.”

“How long?” Gil asked.

I glanced at my watch. “An hour. He’s been gone an hour.”

“Oh, my God, Anna. Listen, we’re watching the weather. Turn off the radio to save the battery. We’re manned twenty-four seven, so call out any time. Stay inside, you know the routine. Shelter, warm.”

“I know. I know. I will. But I need to go. Daylight is wasting. Over.”

“Anna, stay put. Over.”

“I can’t. I have to look for Tony. I’ll check back. Out.” Before any arguments were made and anymore power used, I turned off the radio.

I took a moment, hand to the radio, forehead pressed against it. I gathered my courage and my mindset, then I placed the radio in the backpack, pulled out the ‘just in case’ duffle, and prepared for my second journey out there.

The Arctic Armor was exactly what I needed. It was lightweight and provided me with more mobility. I was not a creature of the snow. The only time I saw snow was when we took a vacation as a youngster and visited an aunt out east. Snow was new to me. How to deal with it and even walk in it. I underestimated the weight it held and how it hindered movements.

In the time I took to take that radio call and change my clothes, more snow had fallen and it didn’t show any signs of letting up. I left out the door where I kept the bags. The last place I saw Tony. My idea was to go back to where we left the Humvee. Six inches of snow was not enough to bury the tracks. It couldn’t be.

We had parked it on the side of the garage. Sure enough, the slightly covered tire tracks swerved some and then went in another direction avoiding the fallen overpass. No turning toward the casino. However, knowing the woman crying out for help was part of it, there was a meet up place. There had to be.

The garage was my best answer.

A doorway was next to the side ramp and I opened it. As guessed it led to a stairwell. The moment the door closed, it was black. So dark, had it not been for my flashlight, I wouldn’t see an inch in front of me.

The concrete stairs with a metal edge were slick from ice and making the journey up was dangerous and frightening. Everything I saw was through the scope of light the beam provided. A small scope. I knew I wasn’t taking that route down. Even though it was longer, I’d walk the garage to get back to the street. I couldn’t take a chance of falling and getting hurt.

My bunker experience afforded me stamina with the stairs, I was barely out of breath when I reached the tenth floor. The door was hard to push open, it was blocked with snow, but I moved it enough that I could squeeze out.

It was a blanket of white, so smooth it didn’t look real. The outer door of the stairwell was marred with black marks, possibly soot. The glass doors that led to the elevators were shattered. I trudged across the tenth floor to the complete other side. That would give me the best view out. Behind me was the river, cluttered roadways and disabled ramps.

From watching movies, one wouldn’t think snow was so difficult to walk in. However, once it reached a certain depth, it wreaked hell on your legs. Lifting, tromping, unable to move fast.

It was exercise and I knew by the end of the day I’d be worn out.

Unlike everywhere else, the roof top level did not have a single car. Nothing. I made it to the edge of the roof and leaned against the edge wall. Being at street level, nudged between buildings, gave a limited view. The rooftop did not. In the distance, I couldn’t tell, but I swore I saw black smoke. It was a thin line. I reached into my sack, which draped sideways over my head and across my chest and pulled out the binoculars.  Sure enough it was a stream of black smoke. It was far away, yet, not the only one. All across the city, thin streams of smoke carried into the gray sky. It was hard, with everything so white, to judge distance.

I knew one thing.

There was life.

The garage allowed a great view of the main part of the city located across the river. Bridges were white from snow and ice, the tall buildings there clearly scorched by the heat wave after the comet. Some were even damaged.

I began my scan of the area for the Humvee and I realized I was at a severe disadvantage. The fast falling snow blocked a clear vision, and also covered the entire area in white. Not only did the stadium and ramps block a clear view of vehicles on the street, looking for the Humvee was like searching a needle in a haystack.

The Humvee was white. More than likely it was camouflaged and seeing it would be like determining the truth behind an optical illusion. I imagined how I would look in the distance. Surely, if Tony was looking for me, I’d be spotted. My suit would make me a moving red dot in a sea of white.

As good of a view as it was, I was finding nothing up there and wasting time.

On foot would be my only answer. I prayed at that moment that Tony was one of those streaks of smoke, that he took cover somewhere because he lost his way, got confused with the snow. I knew for a fact he was without his map, but he did have his small personal sack, like I did. He didn’t drop that.

When I turned to leave that was when I caught just a glimpse of it. I thought maybe I saw wrong, so I moved across the level of the garage to the corner that faced the river.

Asking myself “
How did I miss that
” was an easy question to answer. It was located near the river shielded by a hillside. The white of the huge satellite blended in nicely with snow, there was a building there as well, but that wasn’t what caught my attention.

Was it a ship? A long boat? Lifting the binoculars again, I saw that it was neither, but rather a submarine. It was long and narrow, and could have passed for a ship-sub hybrid.

What the hell as a submarine doing in the river? After focusing again, I saw it was not only docked there, but connected to some sort of peer or walkway.

An attraction of sorts? However in the aftermath of the comet it wasn’t a tourist attraction, it was a vessel of life. I knew this when I saw a small amount of steady smoke emerging from the conning tower.

I knew the name ‘conning tower’ because Tom called the safe room that since we were able to raise our own video periscope. The conning tower had ventilation.

The smoke meant heat, life … Tony.

Would he be there? It was so close to the casino building, yet, neither was visible to the other because of placement.

Like I had thought before, Tony lost his way, maybe he was even injured. With that on my mind, and knowing where to go, filled with a little bit more hope, I left that parking garage.

Time was my enemy and like most enemies, I underestimated it. From walking back and forth, changing my clothes, taking the stairs, scoping the area, I used up a lot of time. By the time I reemerged from the garage, I had an hour, if that of daylight left. Which meant I couldn’t go too far.

The next day I would do better, manage better.

Hopefully, that wouldn’t happen, I’d find Tony, tucked in the control room of the submarine, burning something for heat and using the scope as a means to vent the smoke.

After leaving the garage, I walked down the road toward the river and literally slid my way down the embankment. The building with the satellite dish was just about a block ahead. I suppose there was a road or driveway to get to it, an easier way other than sliding down a hill. The building was not my goal, the submarine was and it was located at the wharf near that building.

There were no footprints leading there. Then again, Tony could have come from the other side or his prints quickly covered by the falling snow.

A long dock near the building led to the deck, if that was what it was called, of the submarine. The blue and yellow entrance sign was covered and the words hidden. The long dock was snow covered, but in one piece, I began my crossing.

The submarine, like the military truck wasn’t encrusted in ice and frost. It was covered with fresh snow, but other than that it was in great shape.

The dock led to a plank, which brought me to the ‘Deck’. While I couldn’t see what lay beneath the snow, I knew I didn’t walk on a submarine, but rather a tourist walkway.

Drawing closer I could see the smoke. Again, like the other smoke streams it was thin. Almost as if it was deliberately being hindered. I headed to the conning tower and prepared to call out, when I heard the man’s voice.

“Stop right there or I’ll shoot.”

It wasn’t Tony’s voice. Where was he yelling from? I peered around.

“Hands in the air.” He ordered.

I lifted my hands then my eyes. The falling snow made him hard to see. Wearing a thick dark coat, armed with a rifle, the man stood on the conning tower.

“Let me make a suggestion. You have five seconds to turn around and leave, or I will shoot,” he said.

“Please don’t,” I replied. “I’m just looking for my friend. We got separated. He may be injured I don’t know. Is he there?”

“You’re a woman,” he stated.

“Last I checked. Is he here?”

“Hold on.” The man shouldered his rifle, then climbed down the exterior ladder. How he did so without slipping or falling was impressive. He obviously sensed I wasn’t a threat, then again, maybe he was just as naïve as I was.

Figuring it was safe to lower my hands, I did.

He approached me, pulling his rifle forward in his grip. “You alone?”

At that point I wondered if I made a mistake. His face was hard to make out through the thick hooded fur. He had a beard, I saw that. “I just need to find my friend.”

“I haven’t seen anyone,” he said. “I only saw you because I was scoping, and I spotted that red suit. You stand out in that red suit. Are you alone?”

I was at a loss as to what to say, how to answerer, when I saw the round door on the tower open, and clearly a woman peaked out.  She wore a coat, but not the hood.

“Larry, everything okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, fine. She’s safe. You’re letting the heat out. Get in.”

The door closed.

Larry. I guess that was his name.

“Come on in.” He moved to the door.

“I have to get back out and search.”

“A huh.” He nodded. “Alone. Right now? It’s gonna be dark in less than an hour. You don’t look like you’re from one of the camps. And from that flashy snow suit, I’m gonna guess you ain’t from around here. Come on in.” He reached for the door.

If Tony was with me, he’d say I was out of my mind. I had this habit of trusting people. The guy Larry could have shot me. If he wanted to harm me, I was an arm’s reach away. He kept his distance, spoke matter of fact. He wasn’t alone, there was a woman with him.

Possibly even more people. The thought did cross my mind that a man and woman duo took our Humvee. Obviously, it wasn’t them. Why would they take it to go a couple blocks? Plus, it wasn’t around anywhere. Unless Tony got it back and left me in Pittsburgh.

Trusting my gut instinct, which had failed me before, I followed Larry inside the submarine.

<><><><>

Immediately I sensed the temperature change when walking into the submarine. I removed my hood and my goggles. Larry hung his coat next to the door.

“Sections are cold. You’ll get used to it, if you want to remove that stuff.”

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

He led the way, not waiting on me. I paused to look at the blue and gold sign that indicated ‘control room’ with an arrow. We walked down a set of narrow and steep stairs.

Larry told me to ‘watch my step’ and I did. It took us to the control room, or rather what used to be the control room. Most of the equipment was moved to make room for old bench seats.

Center of the room was a makeshift heater. It was made from a trash can with an exhaust tube that led up to the ceiling. The temperature changed when I walked in there and I undid my coat.

The woman sat in there, her blonde hair in a sloppy ponytail pulled to the side. A little girl, with the same color hair, no older than three perched on her lap. Still holding the child, she stood and extended her hand. “Gail,” she said.

“Anna,” I told her.

“Have a seat. Do you want something warm to drink?” she asked.

“I’m fine. Thank you. Is it just you three?”

Larry answered, “There’s others. They’re here and there. About twelve of us. Four are kids.”

“That’s amazing,” I said with eyes that danced around the room. “You have a radio.”

“Yeah, well, there was an entire room filled with them. We can’t call out, only listen.”

“You said you spotted me on the scope. Have you spotted anyone else around here?”

“No.” He shook his head. “We caught you on the hourly. You were on top of that garage.” He reached to the small pot on top of the heater and poured whatever was in the pot into a mug. “Sure you don’t want something to drink.”

“No, really I’m …” I caught the aroma of the beverage, it smelled warm and fruity. “You know, maybe a little. That smells really good.”

He handed me the mug. “Gail, here, made this fruit tea. We dehydrate the skins. Try it.”

The first sip crossed my lips and stung from the heat, but I was able to enjoy the flavor. It was truly an ingenious thing. “You mentioned ‘camps’. Do you mean around here in the city.”

“All about the city. Small ones,” he said.

Gail added, “A lot of people left though. Once the weather warmed up, they packed what they could and headed south. People remain though. Some waiting longer, some hoping this will pass and we can start a normal life.”

“Is that what you’re doing?” I asked.

“No,” she replied. “We want to move out. Hopefully find Protocol One. It’s around here somewhere.”

Mid sip, my eyes lifted over the rim of the mug. “Protocol One?”

Larry pointed to the radio. “We pick them up, a couple other big bunkers, oddly named after apocalypse movies. But they are farther way. Protocol One is closer from what we gathered. Wish we had a way to communicate with them.”

“How are you gonna get there?” I asked.

“Wait until the weather breaks, if it does and walk,” Larry said. “Would help if we knew where they were. We’re thinking Elwood City. Just by some of the locations that have been mentioned. If we could reach out, maybe get them to grab the kids at least. We’re a good bunch of people,” Larry said. “Have a lot to offer. I was maintenance for the museum here and did the upkeep on this sub. Gail is a nurse. We wouldn’t be trouble. Not like what they had. We heard about that over the radio.

“Why do you want to join them?”

“Aside from them not sounding like a totalitarian so—”

I laughed, cutting him off.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing, please, go on. Just thinking of my friend.”

“The radio guy is funny. It’s the only entertainment we get. When they play those games, we try to play along.”

I nodded and sipped my beverage.

“So are you or aren’t you gonna tell us you’re from Protocol One.”

Slowly, I lowered the mug. “How did you know?”

“The fancy outfit. Mainly your voice. We listened to you every day for months. We know your voice. I recognized it as soon as you said a few words.”

“I’m sorry,” I said in a humble manner. “I’m just being careful. Please don’t take offense.”

“None taken. Who’s lost?”

“Tony.”

“Tony?” Larry said with shock. “How long?”

“He’s been gone two hours.”

Larry whistled. “What happened?”

“We were on a search, to gauge for survivors, actually Gil, who has taken over the control, needs more hands. Try to get an idea of how many, who we’ll transport and so forth. Then when we were turning, someone cried for help. We stopped. Thank God we took our stuff from the Humvee, because it was a ruse. She yelled from one door of the casino that someone was hurt, we ran in and someone took the vehicle. I’m guessing she ran through and met them. Tony decided to chase after and I haven’t seen him since.”

“Why would he chase them?”

“Because, I think, he believed he’d run to the front and catch up with her. I think he did because there were multiple footprints in the snow, then they got covered.”

Larry stood. “It had to be Michael and Gina’s crew. There’s three of them.” He looked at Gail. “What do you think?”

“Did you drive in from the West?’ she asked.

“Actually, we came from the north taking the west ramp in. So yes.” I replied.

“Has to be,” Gail said. “They shelter in that building just off the ramp. Probably saw you coming in. Wasn’t thought through. They wouldn’t have time.”

“Are they dangerous?” I asked.

Larry groaned in thought. “I want to say desperate. Ralph is. He is a short man with a short fuse. Was a lawyer or something. But whether they’d hurt him. I don’t know.”

Gail said, “Those who remain were those who were more prepared and could wait it out. Those three were the least prepared that we knew of. Didn’t have enough to pilgrimage nor enough to stay. They’ve been asking around for food.”

“Gotta whole city afoot,” Larry added. “Doesn’t make sense. Go out and salvage. We did.” He poured himself some of the fruit beverage. “It’ll be dark real soon. If you want, first light, I’ll help you look for him tomorrow. We’ll grab Horace make him check out Mike and Gina’s place. We’ll find Tony.”

I didn’t want to be dependant or ask for help, but I couldn’t turn down Larry’s offer. I was glad to have it, not for safety’s sake but navigational purposes. His help would save me time and he knew the area much better than I did.

Though I felt defeated in not finding or knowing anything about Tony on the first day, I was confident I’d find the answers in the morning.