Officer Of The Watch: Blackout Volume 1

by D W McAliley

  “Terry Price says hello,” Marcus said.

  For a brief moment, the man didn’t move. Marcus wasn’t even sure he’d been heard, and he was about to repeat himself, when suddenly there was a slight ease in the set of his shoulders. His right hand still rested on the pistol at his hip, but he wasn’t gripping it with white knuckles anymore. He straightened slightly and regarded Marcus with a curious and thoughtful frown creasing his forehead and his face.

  “I guess you’d better come with me,” the man said, and he turned back toward the house.

  Marcus had taken three steps before he realized he hadn’t actually received an answer. By then he had the choice of stopping like a petulant child in the middle of the field or continuing to follow the man towards the house and farther from his route of escape. Marcus eyed the younger man behind the .50 caliber machine gun mounted to the roof of the HUMVEE and swallowed hard. There were two men on the left edge of the field, and one of them followed him with the scope of an M-4.

  Finally, near the white sand road that separated the field and the yard, the man stopped and turned to Marcus, his hand still resting lightly on his side arm.

  “Okay, son,” he said, “you’d better explain yourself.”

  “Are you Captain Joe Tillman?” Marcus asked again, wishing he had a canteen of water.

  The man’s frown deepened, and he didn’t speak. Finally, after a long moment, he nodded twice. Marcus figured he had gotten all of the confirmation the man was going to offer for the moment, so he took a deep breath, said a quick prayer, and let the breath out slowly.

  “Okay,” Marcus said slowly, “I have to reach into the outside right pocket on my vest. I’m going to do it slowly, so please don’t shoot me, okay?”

  Captain Tillman leaned forward and said softly, “If I even think you’re making a move, son, I’ll drop you where you stand. Got it?”

  Marcus tried to swallow, but couldn’t. Instead, he nodded. Very slowly, and very deliberately he reached into his outside right pocket and held out his open hand. In the palm was a heavy gold ring with a sky blue stone the size of a man’s pinky nail on the faceted oval face of it. Captain Tillman picked up the ring with his free hand and turned it over in his fingers, examining the inside and the outside carefully in the sunlight. Satisfied, he nodded to himself.

  “Okay,” Captain Tillman said, “I believe that Terry Price sent you. Nothing else would have worked, but I imagine he told you that. I guess you want to go inside and talk alone, right?”

  Marcus shook his head, and the Captain’s eyes widened slightly. “No sir,” Marcus replied. “I can’t stay. Mr. Price sent me to tell you he needs your help. The nation is under attack, and he needs your help to stop it.”

  Captain Tillman snorted a chuckled. “Terry always did have delusions of grandeur.”

  This time, Marcus raised an eyebrow, and Captain Tillman caught the expression. His frown immediately shifted into a scowl.

  “Look, son,” he said, “I don’t even know you, and I don’t know what Terry Price told you, but I haven’t seen or heard from the man in twelve years. I’m not about to leave my family and get on a helicopter with you just because you bring me a ring. Jesus, I’m not an idiot.”

  Marcus blinked, and paused unable to think of what to say next. Mr. Price had told him that this man was one of his best friends. He’d assured Marcus that there would be no issues and no problems. The ring was supposed to be significant and elicit Captain Tillman’s immediate cooperation. Instead, he seemed to be digging in his heels.

  “Captain Tillman, my name is—“Marcus began, but the Captain held his hand up, shaking his head.

  “Son, I don’t want to know,” Captain Tillman growled. “If I don’t know who you are, then it’s safer…for the both of us. I told you, I’m not going with you. There are people here that need me now, and I’m not going to leave them. I suggest you don’t push the matter.”

  Captain Tillman paused for a moment, and Marcus could only nod in shock.

  “Good,” the Captain said, slipping Mr. Price’s ring into his pants pocket. “Now, you can come inside and have a bite to eat, and we can talk. Your pilot’s welcome to come too, if he wants. You’ll have to hand over your side arms, though.”

  Marcus shook his head slowly. “We have to get airborne, sir, I’m sorry. I have to get back over the Appalachians before nightfall. Mr. Price swore to me that you’d come without hesitation.”

  Captain Tillman just shook his head. “Then he lied, son,” he said. “Don’t feel bad. He’s good at it. You tell Terry Price that if he wants to talk, he obviously knows where to find me. I’ll keep his ring safe for him until he comes to collect it.”

  “Will you try to stop me from leaving?” Marcus asked, casting a meaningful glance at the HUMVEE.

  Captain Tillman shook his head. “No, you’re free to go, son. Just remember what I said before. If I even think you’re making a move on me or mine, I will drop you. If I have to track you over half of God’s green Earth, I’ll find you, and I’ll put you down.”

  He said it with the calm assurance of a man who knew he was making a promise he could and would keep if it ever came down to that. Most men couldn’t have uttered words like that without at least the impression of false bravado. With Captain Tillman, it was a simple statement of fact. Marcus nodded, and the two men began walking back towards the still running helicopter.

  Marcus pointed over to the HUMVEE, and said, “Mr. Price also said to ditch the Hummer. It has a GPS tracking chip imbedded in the engine works that can be switched on remotely. He’s deactivated it and removed its reference from the database, but it is still there. If someone manages to dig up the reference ID, they’ll be able to track you. The .50cal is clean, though.”

  Captain Tillman nodded, but didn’t speak. Marcus felt like he should say something or try to convince the man once more to join him. Something about the set of the Captain’s jaw stopped him, though. He could read it in the Captain’s firm body language that he meant to stay put. Marcus had seen how quickly his hand had gone to the pistol at his side, and he knew he didn’t want to push until he wore out his welcome.

  So, in stunned silence, Marcus climbed back into the cockpit and strapped himself in. He put the headset on and gave the signal for the pilot to take off. The pilot shrugged slightly, throttled up the engines, and coaxed the chopper slowly into the air. As the Blackhawk banked in a low circuit of the farm one last time, Marcus looked down at the Captain standing alone in the field, and the man raised his hand to wave once, and then they were gone.

  Ch. 64

  Best Laid Plans

  Terry woke with a start. He blinked eyes that felt like they were filled with grit and slowly straightened. A small drop of drool on the mirror-polished desk marked where he’d fallen asleep. Terry shook his head hard and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. After a moment, when he could see straight again, Terry checked his watch, and had to blink some more.

  He did some mental math slowly in his head and worked out the time differences involved. It would be mid-afternoon in North Carolina, and Mr. Attledge would have long since completed his mission, one way or another. Terry swallowed hard and tried not to let his fingers shake as he keyed the necessary commands into his personal terminal to access the data base. He executed a pre-set series of commands and the old NAVSAT system was called up once again. When the tracking screen resolved, Terry sat back and smiled a satisfied smile. There, on the screen, was a steadily blinking dot set firmly in the middle of the state of North Carolina.

  The blip wasn’t moving.

  Epilogue

  Mind Your Business

  Mike stood in the narrow strip of deep, dark shadows between two houses. The lamp-style street lights that lined the winding road into the cul-de-sac were dark, of course. None of the windows up and down that dark street were lit. The only lights visible were the stars overhead and an angry orange glow on the horizon to the north over downtown Charlotte
. The wind had changed so the acrid smell of smoke wasn’t as thick in the air, but it still coated the inside of his nose and mouth.

  Across the street, a shadowy figure moved, and Mike’s nerves instantly stood on end. But whoever it was passed by quickly, and disappeared before he could make out much other than their silhouette. Another shape followed a few minutes later, but this one stopped in the middle of the rounded end of the street. The shadowy figure turned one way, then another. Finally, it seemed to notice the one solid door, and it charged. There was the solid thud of heavy impacts as the shadowy figure began trying to kick in the door.

  Mike gritted his teeth and checked to his left and right. Nothing stirred, and no other sounds reached him other than the solid thunk of blows against a heavy wooden door frame. Mike had only seconds to make a decision before one of those kicks succeeded in caving in the door.

  He broke cover and sprinted across the street. Without pausing to think, Mike ran up to the person kicking the door. He grabbed a handful of hair and shirt, pulled back, and rammed the person’s face into the door jamb hard. There was a sickening crunching noise as the person’s nose and probably their jaw were crushed under the blow. The stranger crumpled in a limp, gurgling heap at Mike’s feet. He turned, scanning the street with his M-4 at the ready in case the would-be looter had any friends following behind.

  Either the assailant was alone, or his ragtag followers had seen the carnage and run for the hills. The street was dark and silent again, with just the hint of a breeze blowing through the pitch black night.

  Mike reached behind his back and tapped softly on the door twice. He waited, and then tapped again.

  “Alyssa,” Mike whispered, “my name is Mike. I knew your mother, Claire. Are you in there?”

  Silence answered him, so Mike tapped softly again. He stood and tried to see into two dark windows next to the door, but there were towels up to block the glass from the inside.

  “Alyssa,” Mike whispered again, “Clair told me about you and your sister. She used to talk about you two all the time at work. Are you there? I have fresh water and food…kind of…”

  Still, silence was his only answer. Mike heaved a heavy sigh and took a step towards the street. There was a soft rustling sound behind him, and Mike froze in his tracks. He turned as the deadbolt softly clicked, and the door opened a crack. A woman’s dirty, sweating face peaked through the slim opening, her brown eyes wide, and rimmed with tears.

  “You said you knew my mother?” the woman asked, her voice cracking. “Knew…as in, past tense?”

  Mike took a breath to answer, but he couldn’t. He dropped his eyes heavily and nodded, unable to face Alyssa’s eyes, so much like Claire’s own.

  A chain on the door rattled, and it opened fully. Alyssa stood in cut off jean shorts and a white tank top stained dark with sweat. She stepped to one side, and took Mike’s hand tentatively. She glanced down at the unconscious attacker and said, “Maybe you’d better come inside?”

  Mike was still staring at his feet. He let Alyssa lead him inside and the door clicked closed behind him.

  EMP Commission Executive Report:

  http://www.empcommission.org/reports.php

  Table of Contents

  Ch. 1 Watch Room, USCENTCOM, Norfolk, VA

  Ch. 2 Ground Zero

  Ch. 3 Star Light, Star Bright

  Ch. 4 The Morning Brief

  Ch. 5 Morning After

  Ch. 6 The Kindness Of….

  Ch. 7 The Fog of War

  Ch. 8 On The Road Again

  Ch. 9 Pissin In The Wind

  Ch. 10 Over the River and Through the Woods

  Ch. 11 Chain Of Command

  Ch. 12 The Decent Thing

  CH. 13 Checkpoint Tango

  Ch. 14 Troubled Waters

  Ch. 15 Knock Knock

  Ch. 16 The Stop-n-Shop

  Ch. 17 Special Delivery

  Ch. 18 Strangers In A Strange Land

  Ch. 19 Be Home By

  Ch. 20 Midnight Stroll

  Ch. 21 The Sound of Distant Thunder

  Ch. 22 Better In The Light

  Ch. 23 When The Dust Settles

  Ch. 24 Keys Please

  Ch. 25 The Beaten Path

  Ch. 26 Cat Got Your Tongue?

  Ch. 27 Single File Please

  Ch. 28 A Long Row To Hoe

  Ch. 29 A Leaf On The Wind

  Ch. 30 Cry Havoc

  Ch. 31 The Dogs Of War

  Ch. 32 A Helping Hand

  CH. 33 A Fork In The Road

  Ch. 34 Paint Me A Picture

  Ch. 35 Unknown Administrator

  Ch. 36 Lessons Learned

  Ch. 37 Rise And Shine

  Ch. 38 A Dirt Road Home

  Ch. 39 End Of The Road

  Ch. 40 Breaking Bread

  Ch. 41 Unscheduled Maintenance

  Ch. 42 The Things I Seen

  Ch. 43 The Whippoorwill’s Song

  CH. 44 The Wrong Skies

  CH. 45 Up Before The Sun

  Ch. 46 Familiar Faces

  Ch. 47 Halfway Up The Hill

  Ch. 48 0-4

  Ch. 49 A Long Shot

  CH. 50 The Silence After

  Ch. 51 After A Good Rain

  CH. 52 A Long Way Home

  Ch. 53 Hand In Hand

  Ch. 54 Headlights

  CH. 55 Watching The Road

  Ch. 56 Shaking Out The Bugs

  Ch. 57 If The Worst Should Happen

  Ch. 58 Word From Outside

  Ch. 59 A Quiet Sunrise

  Ch. 60 Deep Shadows

  Ch. 61 A Working Relationship

  Ch. 62 Lines In The Sand

  Ch. 63 First Impressions

  Ch. 64 Best Laid Plans