Missing (2 page)

     And to be sure, Hannah and John could smell the livestock facility long before they got there.

     “It’s the biggest stockyard in North America, and perhaps the world. The Chinese say they have a bigger operation, but they’re so full of crap you can’t believe anything they say.

     “And even if they did have a bigger operation, I’d bet my left leg it’s not as efficient.”

     Hannah’s jaw dropped as she looked out at a sea of cattle, stretching at least half a mile wide.

     “Impressive,” John said. It was the only word that seemed to fit. “How many cattle do you have now, colonel?”

     “Right at twenty two thousand. We’ve stopped their slaughter, in preparation for our shutdown next April. By the time we shut down operations we expect to have twenty four thousand.”

     “Do you think the people of San Antonio will be able to survive once you’re gone?”

     “No reason not to expect them to. The neighborhood garden concept seems to be working well. Those who don’t help grow the crops don’t get to eat them.

     “The same thing will apply once we deliver the livestock. We’ve been putting the word out for weeks for the neighborhood associations to make their preparations.

     “They all know that in order to get their bull and their cow, their hog and their sow, their rooster and their two hens, they’ve got to have good strong pens already built. They also have to demonstrate their ability to grow food for their livestock. They know that if we show up and they’re not ready, we’ll just leave and take their livestock somewhere else. There are plenty of others who will want the animals bad enough to make the necessary preparations.”

     John was curious.

     “Colonel, where are they getting the materials for building their pens?”

     “We’ve given them two options. For those groups who have transportation, they can go to one of the big building supply stores in the city. We’ve already seized all the lumber, plywood, chicken wire and concrete. They will be given a standard number of each and written instructions on how to construct their pens and coops.

     “For those without transportation, or who are a bit more creative, we’ve given them the option of designing their own structures.

     “You have to remember that every single block has vacant houses now. On most streets, the vacant houses outnumber the ones which are occupied.

     “We’ve specifically told the survivors they cannot house their animals in the vacant houses. Our fear is that they couldn’t be kept clean enough to prevent a public health hazard.

     “However, we’ve told them that if they tore down some of the vacant houses, they could use the materials to build their pens. Most of them have chosen that option.”

     He turned around from the front passenger seat to face them.

     “I wanted to thank you once again for your contribution. Your animals and their offspring, and especially the seeds you gave us, have saved a lot of lives. And will continue to for the foreseeable future.”

     Hannah changed the subject.

     “Colonel, once you close down your operation in a few months and move it to Oklahoma City, will you have to start again from scratch?”

     “Yes. No preparations have been made up there at all. There just aren’t enough Army battalions to go around. The setup will be very similar, in that the former Tinker Air Force Base has a huge amount of land and twenty large hangars. But we’ll have to do the setup all over again. Building the growing boxes, bringing in the topsoil, building the stockyard.

     “But two things will help us out tremendously. First, we’re no longer feeling our way in the dark, and learning as we go. The operation here has made us experts. We already know what will work and what won’t. And we won’t waste a lot of time repeating the same mistakes.

     “Also, we’ll be starting out with a good supply of seeds from our operation here, as well as five hundred head of cattle, five hundred pigs, and eight hundred chickens. Instead of scouring the countryside to obtain those things before we get started, we’ll already have enough to get us rolling.

     “I expect the Oklahoma City operation to go much smoother, and the good folks up there are chomping at the bits to help us get started.

     “Any more questions?”

     Hannah and John looked at each other and shrugged.

     The colonel turned to his driver and said, “Parker, head back to the helipad. Let’s get these folks back home.”

Chapter 2

     In the compound, chaos reigned.

     Bryan had pulled guard duty in the early morning hours. Then he went back to his apartment after breakfast to catch some sleep.

     His wife Sarah, not wanting to disturb him, made herself scarce.

     Now Bryan was up and looking for her.

     All of the adults in the compound carried hand-held radios on their belts. Most seldom used them, except for those rare occasions when the security desk sent out an alarm.

     The radios came in handy for finding someone.

     “Sarah, come in, Sarah.”

     No response.

     “Sarah, this is Bryan. Come in, baby.”

     Still no answer.

     Frank, working the security desk, almost got on the radio to give Bryan a brief lecture on radio discipline: “Bryan, unless we have a new member named, ‘Baby’ here, please use proper names.”

     But Frank held back. He sensed something in Bryan’s voice he didn’t like.

     Something that sounded suspiciously like panic.

     “Bryan, this is Frank at the desk. Is everything okay?”

     “Frank, I’ve been looking for Sarah all over the compound. I can’t find her anywhere.”

     “Sarah, this is Frank at the desk. Come in.”

     There was no answer. And Sarah was one of their warriors. Even if she was angry at Bryan, which she frequently was, she would always answer when the security desk called.

     Frank was well aware of this. And so was Bryan.

     “Frank, something’s wrong.”

     “Hold on, Bryan. Don’t panic just yet.”

     “Attention everybody. This is Frank at the control center. If anyone is with Sarah, please advise. If anyone has seen her recently, please let Bryan know where he can find her.”

     There was an extended period of silence as everyone else in the compound looked at each other, then began looking for their friend.

     Frank asked, “Did
anyone
have lunch with Sarah?”

     No response.

     “Has anyone seen her since breakfast?”

     Debbie finally had an answer, and a clue.

     “I saw her just after breakfast, Frank. She said Bryan was tired and was going to take a nap, and she didn’t want to disturb him. She said she was going outside the compound to pick some wildflowers.”

     “Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. Mark, you were on the security desk this morning. Did anyone let Sarah out the gate?”

     Bryan cut in.

     “Sarah never goes in and out of the gate when she gathers flowers. She always uses the evacuation tunnel that exits under the floor of that old cabin.”

     Frank cursed under his breath.

     From a security manager’s standpoint, he was furious that Bryan had just announced to the world that one of the tunnels from the compound led to an abandoned cabin in the woods.

     He’d deal with that later, though.

     Right now one of their own was missing. And he was in charge of the search operation.

     “Bryan, are you sure she’s not in your apartment, taking a nap?”

     “No, Frank. I’ve searched every inch of the compound. She’s not here.”

     “Okay. She’s probably just out of range or her radio isn’t working. Nobody panic. Brad, head over to the mine and make sure she’s not over there doing something. Bryan, follow the route she normally takes and see if you can find some footprints.

     “Sami, I need for you to come and relieve me at the desk. I need for all available men to meet me at the gate in twenty minutes. Replace the batteries on your radios so they’re fresh. You shooters draw a weapon from the gun case. Sami, give them each a couple of extra magazines from the safe.

     “As of now we’ll consider her missing and presumed lost in the woods. We’ve only got a few hours left before nightfall, so we’ll have to hurry.”

     The group had planned for many contingencies in the eight years they’d been together. Oddly enough though, none of their scenarios called for searching for a missing person.

     Perhaps it was because the first six and a half years they’d been trapped together in the old salt mine. In the mine, there simply wasn’t any place for someone to wander off to.

     In the year and a half since they’d left the mine and moved into the compound, it just never occurred to anyone to come up with a plan to use in the event anyone ever went missing.

     Now, as the men assembled at the gate to begin the search, Frank made a mental note to remedy that.

     After, of course, Sarah was found and returned home safely.

     In the meantime, the group would be looking to Frank for guidance. In the absence of some type of procedure or game plan, Frank would resort to his experience in the military and as a sheriff’s deputy to find her.

     He got back on the radio.

     “Okay, Sami, everyone is here. Are we clear to open the gate?”

     “Yes, sir. All clear. And be careful out there.”

     Karen wasn’t going on the search, but met the search party there to open the gate for them.

     As she closed it behind them, she muttered a plaintive plea to them.

     “Please find her…”

     The group reassembled just outside the gate.

     “Okay,” Frank began, “We should have grid maps already made up so we can assign each man a sector. We don’t. It’s something we’ll fix later, but for now we’ll have to do without them.

     “Instead, we’ll all proceed north from this point. We’ll drop one man every forty yards. Once you’re dispatched, move in as straight a line as possible due east. Watch the shadows of the trees to help keep you on course.

     “Proceed carefully and look to both sides.

     “Don’t just look for Sarah. Look for anything that might be a clue. Broken branches. An empty water bottle. An article of clothing. Anything at all that might indicate she’s been there. If you spot anything like that at all, yell. I’ll come to see what you found, and if we can associate it with Sarah I’ll try to track her from that point.”

     Brad asked, “How far do we go, Frank?”

     “Go to the third dirt road. That’s the service road leading to the old cell phone tower. It’s about a mile and a half away. I don’t think she’d have gone farther than that. If you make it that far without finding her, work your way back south and we’ll rendezvous again. Then we’ll expand our search to another area.

     “Any questions?”

     There were none.

     “One last thing. Until for sure we know she’s just lost and otherwise okay, we have to assume there may be aggressors around. Make sure your weapon is locked and loaded, and be prepared to use it if you have to.

     “But for God’s sake, be careful who you shoot at, and what may be behind them. We don’t want any of our people to be wounded by friendly fire.”

     The group walked out together. Periodically Frank pulled a man out of the bunch and told him, “You head east from here. Watch the shadows of the trees to keep you on a straight path.”

     When half the men were gone, he headed east himself, telling the others to repeat the process to the last man.

     He wanted to be in the center of the group so he could get to Sarah faster no matter where she was found.

     There was one more thing he needed to do.

     “Sami, this is Frank. Have you heard any word from John and Hannah?”

     “No, sir. Want me to call them and tell them what’s going on?”

     “Yes. Ask them if either of them spoke to Sarah before they left and whether they may know where she might have gone.”

     Mark answered, “Hannah definitely doesn’t know. She made a comment just before they walked out to meet the helicopter that it was sad her best friend didn’t come to wish her bon voyage.”

     Frank said, “If John doesn’t know where she might be, ask them to ask the colonel if he wouldn’t mind helping search for her. A helicopter would be an incredible help.”