Officer Of The Watch: Blackout Volume 1 (6 page)

Claire didn't say anything.  Instead she hopped over the side of the pickup and stuck her head in the Taurus.  For a brief moment, Eric thought Claire was looting the car, but before he could say anything, she straightened with blanket and a jacket under one arm and tears streaming down her face.

Claire walked around to the front of the car and knelt down out of sight.  Eric and Mike exchanged confused frowns, then jumped down and followed her.  When they rounded the front bumper of the Taurus, Claire was kneeling next to two bodies.  One was obviously a woman in a pale yellow sundress with red flowers.  The other was larger and had on jeans and what looked like a red flannel shirt.

Claire had covered their faces.

"I came out to check and see if anyone was driving by," Claire said in barely more than a whisper.  "I saw their hood up and started this way to see if I could help.  Before I took two steps, that
man
stepped out of the woods a dozen yards down the road from them.  The wife saw him first and pointed him out to her husband.  The both of them were waiving at him and he just walked up and shot them.  She didn't even have time to scream."

Mike stepped forward and squeezed Claire's shoulder, and she reached up to pat his hand.  "You were too far away to help them, Claire."

"I know," Claire said softly.  "I know.  That's why I followed
him. 
That's why I didn't wait when he drew his gun on Eric.  I couldn't watch him do that again."

Claire reached out and squeezed the wife's hand.  Then she stood and wiped her face with the back of her hand and said, "I couldn't just leave these people laying here like this, exposed.  I know we can't bury them, but they deserved more than to be just left laying here."

In the distance behind them, a series of four loud pops echoed off the woods.  Eric looked at the two rangers and they both nodded at the same moment. 

It was time to move.

Eric helped the two rangers back into the bed of the pickup and then climbed up after them.  Once they were all settled again and the cargo was rearranged and secure, Eric thumped his fist on the roof of the cab.  Bill slapped a huge, meaty hand on the side of his door through the window, and pulled the truck around the Taurus.

Eric glanced through the glass half-window in the back of the cab and smiled.  Christina was holding the map, and Imogene was already pointing out the highlighted route they'd agreed on a few hours earlier.  After walking around a bit, Christina ate a pack of peanut butter filled crackers.  She seemed stronger already and hadn't needed any help walking down the path from the camp site to the parking area.  It would take a while for her to get back to a hundred percent, but she was definitely doing better.

With a satisfied smile, Eric leaned back and watched as Crowder's Mountain fell steadily behind them.  A cloud of smoke rose into the sky to the south and west beyond the mountain.  The cloud was thick, but it was still far enough out that Eric couldn't see the fire or where the smoke was coming from.  Ahead of them, the road was empty and so was the sky.

Eric wondered how long it would stay that way.

CH. 13

Checkpoint Tango

Joe walked point as the four men moved through the streets of Norfolk Naval Station.  The base was eerily quiet.  No engines, motors, or fans were humming in the huge brick and stone buildings.  Every vehicle they passed was stopped in the middle of the road, doors open, with the keys still in the ignition. 

After the fourth car failed to start, they'd stopped trying.  Joe kept his hands on his rifle at all times.  He kept his finger near, but intentionally never quite resting on the trigger.  Something tickled the pit of Joe's stomach and he recognized the familiar pinch of adrenaline.  Somewhere deep down, past his conscious thoughts, past even his training, Joe knew that he was in danger.

Tom and Corporal Alexis Henderson walked about four yards behind him, and Chris brought up the rear.  All of the men felt the same thing.  Henderson kept glancing back over his right shoulder as if he expected his CO to come around a corner and start yelling.  Tom and Chris carried it better.  They moved with the same heightened precision and focus that he'd seen before when something major was going on in the watch-room. 

Joe rounded a corner and stopped dead still.  He dropped his hand by his side quickly, palm out and flat, and the men behind him stopped before the intersection. 

"Okay," Joe said, "whatever happens, you follow my lead.  If I raise my weapon, we're rolling hot, so be ready for it.  Henderson, you keep your mouth shut.  No matter what anyone says, you keep it shut, got it?"

All three men nodded, and Joe started walking. 

Ahead of him was the guard gate at the entrance to the base.  On each side of the gate was a pair of HUMVEE's with manned fifty caliber belt-fed machine guns in the back.  There were six men standing in front of the vehicles.  One of them came striding confidently forward and stopped about twenty feet from the gate.

Joe took a quick survey of the men facing him, marking out details quickly and cataloguing them for mental examination later.  The men all had similar tactical gear on in some shade of urban blues and grays or field browns and greens.  They all had high end rifles and side arms and they carried them with the practiced ease of men who were accustomed to using them. 

None of the men had any patch, badge, or insignia of any kind on their uniforms; not even a company logo.

Joe walked directly up to the man who'd stepped out to meet them. 

"You in charge here?" Joe asked before the man could speak.

"I'm the Operations Team Leader," the man said.  "Name's Parker.  And you are?"

"Tillman," Joe said.  "What are you guys doing out here? Where are the regular uniformed guards?"

"They all got called back to the main building for some big thing," Parker replied.  "We're a private contractor that augments the regular troops for base security operations and emergency response.  Now, who are you with?"

"We're leaving," Joe said simply, and nodded towards the gate.  "You mind opening it up for us?"

Parker smiled an easy smile.  "Well, I don't know about that now.  I was told to hold the gate no matter what.  Nobody came and told me to expect visitors.  Who are you guys with?"

Joe unclipped his ID badge and handed it to Parker.  "That says CC-O6," Joe said.  "Civilian Contractor, Officer Level 6.  That answer enough for you?"

Parker looked at the badge and shrugged slightly. "Most days, yes sir, it would be.  This isn't most days, so I'm going to need more than that."

Joe sighed long and hard but didn't say anything for a moment.  Finally, he shook his head slightly, and said, "Have you been to Joint Forces Command, or Joint Special Operations Command recently?"

Parker grunted.  "I've heard about both, but I've never been there.  We get our orders through...other channels...  JSOC's a little bit above my pay grade, I guess," Parker said rather smugly.

Joe reached in his pocket and pulled out a metal coin that was slightly larger than an old Morgan silver dollar.  The coin was heavy, and it had enameled crests on both sides.  Parker took the coin and looked at it.  His eyes widened immediately and he looked back at Joe with raised eyebrows.

"You know what that means, I take it?" Joe asked, and Parker shrugged slightly, but seemed less than convinced.

Joe held out his hand and Parker turned over the ID badge and the coin.  Joe nodded towards the gate again, but still Parker hesitated.

"Look," Parker said, "I can send someone to get clearance for you, but as it is I still don't think I should open the gates."

Joe snorted loudly. "Fine, you send a runner.  But you know where I work and you see how I'm dressed.  Do you really want to try and stand in my way and tell me I can't go? You want to be the one to explain to my
bosses
when they ask me why I didn't carry out my orders? Hell, be my guest."

Parker tightened his grip on his rifle, and for a moment, the two gunners in the HUMVEE's seemed much more alert and dangerous.  Joe could see Parker wrestling with the decision and had to suppress a smile.  If Parker had to wrestle with it this much and this hard, then Joe knew he'd already won. 

Finally, Parker turned and whistled a short, loud whistle and the gates began rolling back.  Joe turned to the three men at his back and nodded towards the open road.  As they passed him, Parker turned and gave a few short hand signals to his men.  The contractors on the ground shifted slightly.  It was subtle, but they were suddenly poised on the balls of their feet and every pair of eyes was locked on the four men as they approached the gate.

The machine gunners relaxed slightly and allowed the muzzles of their guns to drop to a few feet in front of the vehicles.  Still, they kept their hands on their weapons and their eyes on Joe.

"Listen, if you come back this way," Parker said, "I can't guarantee I'll be able to open the gates for you.  It'll be dark soon, and I mean darker than it's been in a long time.  We've been hearing gunshots every now and then.  There was a pretty good exchange an hour ago, but it died out eventually.  Who knows what'll happen once the sun goes down."

Joe shrugged slightly and replied, "I know.  Orders are orders, though."

Joe stayed on point as the small team made their way down the long road and to the main highway.  He didn't start breathing easier until they'd put a few walls between themselves and the contractors.  As they walked, Joe expected the tingling feeling of hyperawareness to fade out a bit, but he was wrong. 

As the team walked further and further from the naval base, a feeling like charged electricity began prickling across his skin.  None of the men spoke, but they felt it just as strong.  Their breathing became deep and fast, but not from fear.  They were intense and feeding off the tension they could all taste on the back of their tongues every time they breathed in. 

The sun was still shining when they found the first body.

Ch. 14

Troubled Waters

The wind whipped through the back of the truck and made it nearly impossible to talk.  Eric scanned the countryside as they drove, paying attention to landmarks as they went.  He made mental note of where the water towers were as well as tall trees, hills, and other standout features.  His father had taught him to note features like that when he was young so if he ever got lost in the woods he would be able to find his way home.

Bill drove out onto a four-lane bridge that had a few cars stalled here and there.  He slowed down to navigate among the cars, and Claire tapped Eric's leg and then pointed out over the water.  In several places the calm, mirror surface of Lake Wylie was broken by wings or tails of airplanes sticking up in the air at odd angles. 

Vultures were already perched on the nearest horizontal stabilizer.

Eric turned his head, not wanting to see what the vultures were feasting on, and he found himself staring at a thick column of black smoke on the western horizon.  This fire was different from the one they'd left behind on Crowder's mountain.  He wasn't sure, but the location seemed about right for the Coalogix power plant that had burst into flames the night before and then exploded like a bomb. 

Eric didn't really want to think about that either, but it seemed wherever he looked there was a reminder of the death and destruction that was all around them.  They'd been on the road for less than two hours, sticking to back roads and side streets as much as possible, and still they'd seen stalled cars, burnt out homes and neighborhoods, and several dead bodies lying in the street. 

Bill slowed the truck and pulled into a gas station on the North Carolina shore of the lake.  There were two cars at pumps and one parked in front of the store, but no people were visible.  Eric and Mike climbed down and walked around the store, searching, but they found no one.  The two approached the door, and Mike took out a 9mm handgun and held it out to Eric.

“Know how to use this?" Mike asked.

Eric nodded.  "Yeah, I've been shooting since I was a kid."

Eric took the handgun, checked the chamber, and clicked the safety off.  He motioned to Mike, who pushed open the not-so-automatic doors.  Mike stepped inside and swept to the right with his flashlight and pistol.  Eric stepped in and did the same to the left, but the store was empty.  Mike went to the switch panel for the pumps and started flipping the switches at random, but nothing happened.  All of the lights were dark, even the ones in the cooler cabinets. 

"Nothing works," Mike said, slamming his heavy Maglite down on the switch panel.

"Alright," Eric said, trying to change the subject.  "Let's grab what we can.  Get the beef jerky, water, anything we can carry that won't go bad in the next day or two."

"Don't you think they'll have food and water at the shelter?" Mike asked.

Eric grunted.  "Never hurts to be prepared," he said noncommittally.

Mike frowned and hesitated, but eventually he took a stack of bags and started collecting water and junk food.  Eric took some bags and collected all of the batteries, OTC drugs, and bottles of alcohol and peroxide he could find.  He bagged up ten bottles of motor oil and a couple of jugs of antifreeze as well.  They carried the supplies outside and started loading them into the bed of the truck.

Bill came around from the cab, a disheartened look on his face.  "Fellas," he said, "we're damn near out of gas."

"Better find a fill-up station, then," Mike said with an ironic chuckle.

"Well, yeah," Bill said.  "But how are we gonna get the gas out of the ground and into the truck? Pumps are shut down tight."

Eric smiled.  "I think I found something that might help," he said, digging around in one of his plastic bags.  Finally, he pulled out a small hand-cranked siphon pump with a set of hoses. 

"I don't think that little thing will reach down in them big holdin tanks," Bill said, scratching his bald head.

"Probably not," Eric agreed.  "But it'll reach into the gas tanks of the cars here in the parking lot.  There's a gas can back in the store, if you want to grab it, Bill."