by James Hunt
From the back seat, Julie placed her hands on Samantha's shoulder. "It's so good to see you, Mom. We had faith in finding you. I mean so much has happened, it seemed like it was impossible. But we did it, Paul and me."
Paul looked at Julie in the rear-view mirror and smiled. He put the car in drive and coasted carefully through the parking garage with the headlights off. "We have to be careful, there're police everywhere," he said.
"Where are we going?" Samantha asked.
"Denver is a bust," Paul said. "I'm talking martial law, can't go out after dark kind of thing. It's too dangerous."
"Is it all true?" Samantha asked, staring blankly ahead.
"What, the attacks?" Paul asked, pausing. "Yes, from what we've heard and what we've seen, it looks like millions of people, maybe more, have been killed."
"Your father? My parents? Our friends?" Samantha began.
"I don't know yet, honey. We've been trying to get to you for weeks now."
Samantha placed her face in her hands and began to cry. Paul reached for her hand and held it as Julie rubbed her shoulders.
"There, there, Mom. We're going to be okay."
Samantha lifted her face from her hands, sobbing. "You guys really are amazing, you know that?" she said.
"We need to go somewhere where we can lay low and rest for a little bit," Paul said. "Some place away from the city."
"We could always hide in the mountains," Julie suggested.
"That's not a bad idea," Paul replied. "What do you think, Sam?"
Samantha wiped tears from her eyes. "Anywhere away from here is good."
Once they were on the highway, the Rocky Mountains were in view. It seemed an ideal location, if not already blocked off somehow. They had to make it there without being stopped, as the barren highway made them an easy target. Farther down the road, a sign was in view: Rocky Mountain National Park Three Miles.
Senator Bryant and a small entourage of security men and bunker occupants burst into the guard shack above ground on the runway. They found Wells leaned against the counter while holding his bulging side through his light-blue security uniform.
"Where did they go?" Tyson asked immediately.
Wells raised his head up while trying to catch his breath.
"They ran off while I was on the phone calling it in. I chased 'em outside, but they were already gone. Vanished into thin air."
One of Bryant's group, the man with static hair, stepped forward wearing a deep frown.
"So, the Senator lets her in, she gets out, and we can't find her. Then you come across a man, woman, and child just strolling along and they manage to escape because your BACK WAS TURNED? Excuse me if I don't have the most faith in the security measures implemented around here."
Bryant held his tongue. He knew that no matter what he said, they were going to pin the situation on him. Maybe they were right. Though he wasn't planning on going down alone.
"You're mistaken, Sir," Wells said. "First I came across a woman, attractive young girl carrying a laptop. I brought her in here for questioning. She told me she had 'wandered' onto the runway."
Bryant's full attention was on Wells' every word. He cut in. "This woman you saw carrying the laptop, what did she look like?"
"Asian-looking female in her late-twenties. Shoulder-length black hair. She had a cute red dress on, but it was kind of torn up. She was wearing a dark blue blazer over it. She spoke some gibberish about being lost. Didn't make any sense."
"So what happened after you brought her in here? Where did she go?" Bryant insisted.
The entire group circled around Wells, awaiting a response.
"Well she was sitting in that chair," Wells answered, pointing ahead. "Then I saw the man and his child on the security monitors. He said he was a congressman here to see you. I brought them in, got on the horn, and then they started hugging and stuff. He said the woman was his wife."
"His wife?" Bryant shouted.
"I don't know, Senator. Their story was very hazy. I couldn't make much sense of it myself. All I know is that they were trespassing.
Bryant wanted to kill him. He wanted to take Wells and bash his thick head into the counter until it split apart in two. He moved close into Wells' face and spoke slightly above a whisper.
"You shouldn't have let them get away. Now, they couldn't have gotten far. I want you to get in contact with every security officer wandering around this fucking airport and start searching."
Wells nodded nervously.
"You better hope they didn't get far," Bryant injected as he backed off.
"How did the husband and kid get in?" a man in the group asked.
"I don't know. They might have hopped the fence," Wells said.
"That's exactly why I suggested towers with armed guards," the man with the brandy said. He took a swig and continued. "You all thought I was crazy, but look at us now, clueless as children in a warzone."
"Pipe down, Fischer. Why don't you go back to bed and sober up?" one of the other men said.
"Enough, we all need to work together," Bryant said as he walked over to the security monitors and examined them. He signaled Wells over with the wave of his hand. As Wells approached, Bryant wrapped his arm around his shoulder and leaned Wells towards the screen.
"Do these monitors have a playback option?" he asked.
"Yes, sir. Yes they do," Wells responded.
"Why don't you back up the footage so we can get a look at this woman and her mysterious prince?"
"Don't forget about the kid," Fischer said with a hiccup.
"Yes, Fischer, I know that, thank you," Bryant said in an annoyed tone.
Wells moved to a small control panel on the desk below the monitors. He fidgeted with the knobs displaying recorded footage from different locations on the security screens. Several displays showed Samantha walking past the camera on the runway, and then being led into the office.
"Pause that one!" Bryant ordered.
Wells paused the image as Samantha just took a seat on the chair.
Other screens showed Paul and Julie approaching the building from outside. Once they got inside, Bryant again told Wells to pause it. The final image showed Paul, Samantha, and Julie embracing in the room. Bryant had Wells pause the image as well. It suddenly occurred to Bryant how many times Samantha pleaded with him to let her go. She always brought up a husband and daughter. A husband and a daughter. Was it possible? Had they managed to track Samantha somehow? Had they been coordinating with her? Bryant grew paranoid. Samantha had used him. She had been sent in to get his laptop. She had seduced him. He was as a fool to have fallen for it. Nonetheless she had to be found.
Bryant took a step back from the monitors and then turned to his entourage.
"I want these images distributed to every law enforcement and military entity in the state. We're dealing with terrorist espionage here, gentlemen. Now, even if they had a vehicle, they couldn't have gotten far. And it won't be long until they get stopped at a checkpoint, especially after curfew. We have to stop them immediately. The woman, Samantha, has a laptop with top secret information on it. We must retrieve that information and stop these agents before it's too late. Too many lives have been lost enough as it is."
The implication was clear; Bryant was dictating a state-wide manhunt on the fleeing family, with no other authority than his words.
Paul drove to the Rocky Mountain National Park, repeatedly glancing at the fuel gauge as it teetered below the quarter mark. Once the Malibu ran out of gas, he wasn't sure what they would do. With so little gas left, they wouldn't be able to travel much farther. It was the Rocky Mountains or nothing. The Malibu, the lone car on the road, coasted up a side road into the park. Its headlights brightened the path of winding gravel traveling upward to a place they could remain concealed within the lush wilderness of their tranquil escape. The jagged mountains towered in the distance, their tips white with the frost. Even among such open surroundings, safety wasn’t guaranteed. There w
as no plan beyond just getting to the National Park. They would hide. They would be together.
Samantha leaned her head onto Paul's shoulder as he placed his arm around her. Julie had climbed up in the front and cuddled next to her mother. She hadn't told Samantha everything, for which Paul was relieved. He attempted many times to commandeer their discussion. It was too much to put on Samantha at the moment. Paul hadn't asked her yet how she ended up with Senator Bryant, or why she was trying to escape. She had her own story to tell, but not before grilling Paul about where they had been and how they had managed to find her.
"We drove with a man we met, Jordan," Paul said. "We got as far as Missouri when we ran into some trouble, but were given help by some people who lived in their own sort of protected neighborhood."
"You're not telling her the whole story, Paul," Julie interrupted.
"There's no need to get into all that right now, Julie," Paul said back. "It's fair to say that we've all been through a very rough couple of weeks."
The truth was that there was much he didn't want Samantha to know. They were all in a very fragile state. If she had just a slight indication of what Julie had seen and done, he honestly didn't know how she would respond, or how things could ever go back to how they were. Perhaps those days were long gone.
"I knew I would find you both soon, but I would have never, in a million years, expected to see you at the airport. I thought I was going to have to go all the way back to Pennsylvania."
"There was a massive evacuation and we had to leave. Colorado was our only option. It was our best chance of finding you."
"And it worked," Julie said, smiling.
"So Pennsylvania got hit? Are you sure? What did you see?" Samantha asked.
Paul cleared his throat, trying to choose his words carefully.
"I saw a mushroom cloud. It was huge, but pretty far away. They said the air had been contaminated."
Samantha covered her face, sobbing. "I just can't believe it. All those people. All those lives. For what? We have to get back. We have to get back to our home."
"It's not safe right now," Paul said. "We need to lie low, especially during this curfew. I'll find a place to park. We’ll rest then do our best to find some fuel."
"Out here?" Samantha asked.
"Somewhere. We have to or else we'll be walking."
"What are they saying on the news?" Samantha asked.
"That it looks like nuclear war," Paul said, causing Samantha to gasp.
"But the worst is over. We need to put it out of our minds for now. Concentrate on each other and about getting somewhere safe," he added.
"We could go back to New Haven," Julie said.
"What's New Haven?" Samantha asked.
"The place where Julie and I stayed. The protected neighborhood," Paul answered.
They continued up the winding road and reached a look-out spot to the side where tourists parked to stretch their legs or get pictures. The Malibu pulled to the side and stopped. Its headlights went off with the engine.
"This looks like as good a spot as any," Paul said.
Julie opened her door to observe the radiant night sky. "It's beautiful," she said while walking to the guard rail overlooking the black forest below.
"Julie, get back here," Paul said.
"It's okay," Samantha said with a kiss to Paul's cheek. "She's never seen anything like this before."
Tiny bulbs of stars flickered along an endless ridge or mountains visible in dark shades of deep purple. The air was thick, cool, and refreshing. Julie took a moment to savor the silence, as Paul and Samantha approached her.
"Hopefully they don't send the cavalry after us," Paul said. "I'm surprised we don't see any helicopters yet."
"Let's not worry about any of that right now," Samantha said. She placed her hands on Julie's shoulders. In return, Julie moved her hand to touch her mother's. Paul put his arm around Samantha and squeezed her gently as they watched the still beauty of an untouched place where such peace was still possible.
After star gazing, the family headed back to the car where Paul said they would sleep for the night. Julie lied in the back and quickly fell asleep. It had been an exhausting day for her, more so than usual. Up front, Paul held Samantha in his arms as she told her story.
"I went to my hotel room after they evacuated the convention center. I met Senator Bryant sometime before. He gave me his card."
"That's the one we found in your hotel room. That's why we went to the airport," Paul said.
"I remember I had this panic attack, I called him for help, I didn't know what else to do. I didn't even think he would remember me, but he did. Next thing I knew, I woke in a place that had no windows or doors. It was like being in the inside of a vault. A place underground with all his strange people. He wouldn't let me leave."
"Did he ever hurt you?" Paul asked with a sickness growing in his stomach.
Samantha moved her head up from his chest to look up at his face. "No. He never hurt me, or touched me or anything you might be thinking. The last night I was there, he was being very pushy. I..."
Samantha paused. "I hit him over the head with a bottle of champagne and knocked him unconscious."
Paul was speechless.
"I had to escape. I couldn't spend another day down there. Not with you and Julie out here looking for me. On his desk, he had a laptop. I want you to take a look at it. A lot of the files appear encrypted, but there's serious evidence of Bryant's involvement with the bombs," Samantha continued.
Paul looked flush with shock. Who was this woman speaking to him? "Samantha, that's absurd! You mean to tell me that you think Senator Bryant is going to come after us because you took his laptop?"
Samantha moved away from Paul, clutched the laptop with both hands, and held it up. "This laptop has everything on it. This is the only leverage we have. These people helped murder millions of people already, what makes you think they're going to care about three more?"
Paul attempted to calm Samantha by placing his hand on her leg. She was still wearing the cocktail dress and in desperate something less flashy and noticeable. "I don't know where this is all coming from. This conspiracy of yours, but if it makes you feel better, I'll take a look at the files."
She rested the laptop down on the seat next to her and leaned in closer to Paul. "They said there's supposed to be another attack, Paul. A bomb so big that it could wipe out what's left of the entire country--"
"Oh, honey, that's not even possible. No such bomb exists," Paul interrupted.
"Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't, but we can't risk it. We can't just let it happen. How can we even try to pick up the pieces knowing that something like that may happen?"
"There has to be an explanation of the files on Bryant's laptop. Maybe he's investigating it."
"The only thing he's investigating is where he can find the next bottle of champagne," Samantha said.
Paul gave her a perplexed look, then stared ahead. "I--" he began.
"Julie's asleep, we have plenty of time. Just give the files a look, it's all I ask," Samantha said. She grabbed the machine and placed it onto Paul's lap. He looked up at her, confused
"Please," she said.
"Anything for you, baby," Paul said.
He flipped the laptop screen up and turned it on.
"I'll take a look real quick then we need to get some rest."
Paul got sucked in. He found himself up for hours opening file after file of incriminating evidence against Senator Bryant. He bypassed many of the document encryptions using his most basic knowledge of computer hacking from his college days. He said very little, as Samantha watched over his shoulder. Senator Bryant's involvement in the conspiracy seemed indisputable. After reading through his documents and emails, Samantha asked him if taking the laptop had been worth it.
"I don't know," he said. "I don't know if there's anything that we can do to stop this thing."
With such information, there was no doubt tha
t Senator Bryant was going to come after them. They had to keep moving, but where?
"No, we need to rest," Paul said. "Bryant's not going to find us out here."
"Can we give it to the media? Someone? We have to let everyone know about this," Samantha said.
"It's hard to say, it looks as if the state is running the media now. Those are Bryant's people. I know a guy who does a radio show. Or at least he did before. Maybe he can help us. He's the one who told us to go to the airport. Said a secret society was living underground. He also made claims about Bryant’s involvement in this conspiracy," Paul said.
"Well, sounds like he wasn't that much off," Samantha replied.
Paul rubbed the sides of his head. "This is just too much to take in. If Bryant gets his way we're talking a worldwide nuclear genocide. My God, think about Julie. Think about her future. Either these documents hold the key to who's behind this or they're just wild ambitions on part of the Senator."
"What are we going to do with it? I'm so scared," Samantha said, tightly wrapping her arms around Paul.
Paul shut the laptop and held Samantha just as tight. "We're going to stay just like this, for as long as we have left," he said.
There was so much to wrap his head around that Paul wasn't even sure where to start.
For starters, he read several communication transcripts between Bryant and unnamed sources throughout the entire world. He read documents that listed times, dates, and sizes of impact. He read time lines that stretched for weeks, each step meticulously crafted by Bryant and those in his organization. They weren't all American, and the conspiracy stretched to persons of several nations. They had no national sponsorship, but they were supposedly among some of the most powerful people around the world.
Their plan was to trigger a series of nuclear attacks, thus creating enough death, destruction, pandemonium, and chaos to destabilize every nation of the world into collapse. That was their plan. In Bryant's notes, they were simply referred to as "The Masterminds," an elite group of conspirators that looked to establish a one-world order. It sounded very conspiracy theorist minded to Paul. He had no idea whether to believe what he was reading, to actually consider a group of people capable of doing such a thing. The mushroom cloud he saw was no theory, nor was the massive looting, lack of fuel, and sudden collapse of infrastructures in many neighboring states. If these occurrences weren't linked to the Bryant's group, then it was an amazing coincidence.
