Surviving Rage | Book 5

by Arellano, J. D.

  6:47

  ‘Still early,’ she thought, shaking her head. She always slept better when he stayed in bed next to her. Sighing, she left the bedroom and walked down the hallway to the dining room, where she found Daniel, snoring as he slept with his head resting on the table.

  Chuckling, she reached out and nudged the table with her foot, making it shake.

  Daniel woke instantly, popping upright in his chair. One of the sheets of paper stuck to his face, and he reached up and pulled it away.

  “Hunh? What?”

  “You fell asleep, dork. It’s almost seven a.m.”

  Blinking, Daniel reached up and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms. “Damn.”

  “I’ll make coffee,” Serafina said, heading towards the kitchen. “You should take a shower. And brush your teeth.”

  “Okay,” he said, looking down at the papers. “In a minute.”

  Stopping in her tracks, she turned around. “Now, Daniel,” she chided. “A shower will make you feel better and help you wake up.”

  “Alright, alright,” he said, nodding. Standing up from his chair, he stretched, then stepped around the table and headed down the hallway.

  “Don’t forget to brush your teeth!” Serafina called out, before looking down at the table. She examined one of the pieces of paper. At the top, the original numbers and text were written:

  92 00 33 50 62 31 94 51 94 41 74 41 53 81 10 43 60 81 30 93 51 53 63 74 63 22 74 91 93 52 81 40 52 40 33 82 41 94 00 61 43 72 53 42 20 32 41 83 21 61 32 22 50 92 74 53 81 20 42 80 62 63 82 61 21 82 32 50 72 90 83 93 71 91 43 94 22 41 74 63 21 81

  74

  Underneath, Daniel had written what he thought was the decoded version of the message:

  X 0 F 5 N D Z J Z P S P L T 1 I 6 T 3 Y J L O S O B S W Y K T 4 K 4 F U G Z 0 M I Q L H 2 E G V A M E B 5 X S L T 2 H D H 8 N O U M A U E 5 Q 9 U Y Y W I Z B G S O A T

  R

  “Gibberish,” Serafina said, shaking her head. She grabbed another sheet of paper and looked at it as well.

  83 00 33 93 30 62 31 72 94 74 94 92 50 83 41 53 94 30 80 43 51 61 32 30 93 73 10 32 63 10 42 42 22 74 00 53 91 52 53 22 10 52 40 10 93 21 41 93 61 74 61 82 33 62 53 42 82 52 33 41 30 81 41 61 32 20 31 20 92 21 53 30 81 20 42 10 82 42 51 62 22 63 82 61 81 74 82 62 50 94 94 90 83 91 61 41 71 43 81 81 71 41 32 23 60 40 81 51 51 63 62 31 60 74 91 94 51 91 30 60 72 21 81 53 43 62 33 00 23 22 73 94 23 22 71 72 52 41 94 61 20 10 51 20 21 10 10 80 93 22 93 21 73

  95

  Followed by:

  V 0 F Y 3 N D Q Z S Z X 5 V G L Z 3 8 I J M E 3 Y R 1 E O 1 H H B S 0 L W K L B 1 K 4 1 Y A G Y M S M U F N L H U K F G 3 T G M E 2 D 2 X A L 3 T 2 H 1 U H J N B O U M T S U N 5 Z

  Z 9 V W M G P I T T P G E C 6 4 T J J O N D 6 S W Z J W 3 6 Q A T L I N O 0 C B R Z C B P

  Q K G Z M 2 1 J 2 A 1 1 8 Y B Y A R

  ?

  Serafina stared at the question mark at the end. Had Daniel’s theory been incorrect? Turning away, she went to the kitchen and made coffee while she thought about the code’s translation. His description of how it translated had made sense, until they’d seen it written out onto paper.

  ‘Back to the drawing board,’ she thought, as she leaned against the counter while she waited for the coffee to brew.

  “Honey, can you pour mine in a travel mug? I’m gonna head over to the op center to talk to the guy who provided this to see if he knows anything else.”

  “Sure.”

  Grabbing one of the Contigo mugs from the cabinet, Serafina filled it with coffee, then added a dash of creamer and a bit of Splenda. Setting in the counter she filled her own cup, then grabbed the book she’d been reading and headed out to the home’s large front deck, where she sat in her favorite chair and sipped coffee as she read. A short time later, Daniel came out and gave her a kiss before leaving for the operations center, where they both hoped he’d receive some kind of new information that would help him crack the code.

  Something told them both it was important.

  Arriving at the security gate, Daniel went through the familiar routine of showing the guard both his retired military ID and the special badge.

  “Good morning, Sir,” the Army Specialist said as he saluted.

  “Good morning, Soldier,” Daniel replied, smiling and nodding before driving through the gate and over to the small parking area near the front of the operations center. Grabbing the phone from the car’s cup holder, he stuck it into his pocket before he headed inside.

  The Operations Center was a tall building with windows all the way around. Two months ago it had been a corporate headquarters building for a large tech company, something that was reflected in both its wide open internal spaces as well as its sleek, modern furnishings. Walking through the large building, Daniel was passed by numerous uniformed personnel as they rushed to and fro, all intent on accomplishing whatever tasking they’d been assigned.

  ‘Dang, I swear these kids look younger and younger,’ Daniel thought as he passed the young men and women in uniform. Like he’d done at the gate, he smiled and nodded at those who he made eye contact with as walked down the hallways until he reached Major Kincaid’s office.

  A young female Marine Corps Second Lieutenant was in Kincaid’s office when Daniel arrived, so he waited in the hallway until they finished their conversation. As the young woman left the office, she looked at Daniel and nodded in greeting.

  “Lieutenant,” Daniel replied, smiling.

  Kincaid’s voice came from behind him. “Daniel! Did you bring any of that stout with you?”

  Shaking his head, Daniel turned to greet the man, stepping into the room and extending his hand. “Sorry, no, Mike. Serafina was giving me a hard time about all the ‘sampling…’” he said, placing his hand on his stomach. Though he was still thin after weeks of going on minimal food and exerting himself at high levels, he was mindful of the impact drinking beer had on a person’s weight. He was thinner than he’d been in a while, and definitely interested in staying that way.

  “I see,” the Major replied, nodding. Reaching down, he patted his stomach as well. “For me, I’ll either drink that yummy stuff you make or the crappy stuff at the all hands club.” He shook his head. “Shit’s stressful here…”

  “I’m sure.”

  Shrugging, the Air Force Major said, “Oh well, it is what it is. So, what brings you here?”

  Reaching into his pocket, Daniel brought out the phone and held it up. “I’ve been getting these weird messages. I was hoping the guy that fixed it could take a look and see if he could figure it out.”

  Nodding, Kincaid got up. “Alright. Let’s go see what he knows.”

  As the two men approached the Electronics Issue room, Kincaid’s eyes went wide at the sound of a grown man’s voice singing loudly and off-pitch.

  “‘One taught me love,

  One taught me patience

  And one taught me pain

  Now, I'm so amazing

  Say I've loved and I've lost...’”

  Looking at Daniel, the Major asked, “What the hell is that?”

  “I think it’s Ariana Grande.”

  “Ariana Grande? I thought that was a font.”

  “Me too. But I have two teen daughters....”

  “Oh yeah, that’s right. How do you handle it?”

  “Very carefully,” Daniel shrugged and shook his head as he replied, before slowing to let the Major enter the doorway first.

  Across the room, a chubby, thirty-something year old man was hunched over a computer circuit board, holding a soldering gun in his hand as he sang along with the song coming from a nearby speaker.

  “‘Thank you, next,

  Thank you, next,

  Thank you, next…’”

  “Hey, there, Mister Willey!” Kincaid called out loudly.

  “Ahhh!!” The heavy man yelped, losing his grip on the soldering gun. The tool fell onto the circuit board, and out of instinct the man reached for it with his off hand. “Ow!” he exclaimed as his fingertips came
in contact with the hot metal tip. “Darn it!” He reached out and grabbed the handle and moved the tool aside, setting it in its cradle.

  Turning his head in the direction of Daniel and the Major, the man frowned. “You made me burn my finger!”

  Kincaid brought his hands up defensively. “Sorry, buddy. I was just trying to get your attention.”

  Sighing, the man shook his hand in the air in an effort to cool it as he rose from his chair. Reaching down, he turned off the soldering gun’s switch, then walked over to the counter. “What can I help you with?”

  Kincaid glanced at Daniel. “Go ahead.”

  Daniel withdrew the phone and showed it to Willey. “So, this was delivered to me - “

  Willey smiled. “Yeah. I fixed that. The Army guy that came by asked me to.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. I was…” Willey looked away, embarrassed, “cleaning up a mess I made, so I told him to write down what he needed. He asked for one more phone and asked me to give it to the Major so that he could get it to Lieutenant Commander Alvarez. I guess that’s you. I fixed that one and delivered it as requested.”

  Frowning, Daniel thought about the man’s choice of words: ‘one more phone,’ not, ‘another phone.’

  “You said, ‘one more phone.’ How many did you fix?”

  The heavy man looked at the counter for a second as he thought. “Let’s see. The original request was for two. I fixed an extra one because I had it handy. Then I fixed that one, so that makes four altogether.”

  Kincaid leaned forward. “Hold on. Who asked for the first two?”

  Willey shrugged. “I don’t know. Some Army officer.”

  “Officer? Are you sure?”

  “Yeah,” the man replied defensively. “Believe it or not, I know the ranks of the military, Major.”

  “Sorry,” Kincaid began.

  “I was set on enlisting, but I was medically disqualified.”

  “I see,” the Major replied, nodding.

  Daniel leaned forward and placed his hands on the counter. “So an Army Officer came in and asked for the phones, but you issued them to an Enlisted Soldier?”

  Willey frowned. “What do you mean? The Army Officer came back. He was a Lieutenant Colonel.”

  Daniel frowned. The only officer that was part of the group that had departed for Oklahoma City was Doctor Reed, a Navy Captain. Like Army, Marine, and Air Force Colonels, he wore an eagle for a rank insignia.

  ‘What the hell?’

  Raising one hand, he said, “Hold on. Can you start from the beginning? You were in here working, I’m assuming. Then the Army Lieutenant Colonel showed up and you gave him three phones, but then he asked for one more?”

  “Yeah,” Willey replied, then hesitated. “Wait. I gave him two...oh yeah, and then I was looking for the other one down here under the counter when I knocked over some stuff. Remember I said I made a mess?”

  “So did you hand the third phone to him?”

  “No, I heard him asking me something, and I just put it on the counter and told him to take it.”

  “This was the ‘extra’ one, right?”

  “Yes,” Willey replied, nodding. “I put it up there and he was trying to say something, but I was busy, so I told him to write down what he needed.”

  “Did he say anything else?”

  “Uh, let’s see. Oh yeah, he asked me where gear issue is.”

  Daniel and Major Kincaid’s eyes met. “That had to be Paul,” Daniel said.

  Kincaid nodded. “Maybe they switched out somehow?”

  “Yeah, I think so. What timing…”

  Looking back at Willey, Daniel held up the phone. “So, aside from the connectivity aspect, did you do anything else to the phones?”

  The man nodded. “Yeah. I made it so they all are synced for messaging.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means, when one person sends a text, the other three will automatically receive it, regardless of who it was sent to. I figured it would be useful in tactical environments.”

  ‘That explains it,’ Daniel thought. He was receiving copies of texts meant for someone else.

  “Do you think the guy’s still here?” Willey asked.

  “Maybe,” Kincaid said, nodding.

  “Good. Can you ask him to give me back my graph paper?”

  An hour later, Daniel pulled into the small driveway behind the home he shared with Serafina and the girls. His mind was busy working through the things he’d discussed with Major Kincaid as he climbed out of the car and locked it. The two of them had agreed that he’d continue to monitor the messages while he worked at breaking the code that was being used. In the meantime, Kincaid would inform General Armstead - and only General Armstead - of the fact that there was a spy in their midst. When Daniel figured out the cipher, Armstead and Kincaid would hold an operational update meeting and release carefully constructed information that was false.

  When Daniel received the encoded message that contained the false information, they’d be able to start narrowing down the number of possible spy candidates.

  While there were a few Lieutenant Colonels working at the Operations Centers, they also considered the possibility that the person had simply used a fake uniform to fool Willey.

  Anything was possible.

  In the meantime, he still had to figure out the code.

  Climbing the steps to the home, he walked through the door by the kitchen and was greeted by Ashley, who was there making a pot of Kraft Mac ‘n’ cheese.

  “Hi, Dad,” she said absently as she stirred the pasta.

  “Hey. Where’s Auntie?”

  “On the deck still.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  After grabbing a can of Coke Zero from the fridge, he crossed through the living room and out onto the deck, where he found Serafina dozing in her chair, her eyes and face covered by her sun hat.

  “Boo,” he said, nudging her foot with his own.

  Reaching up, she moved the hat from her face, she squinted her eyes as she looked up at him. “Hey. You’re back.”

  “Yeah, found out some interesting things.”

  “Cool. Let me use the bathroom real quick and then you can tell me about it.”

  “Okay.”

  Looking at his shirt Serafina shook her head. “Can’t believe you still wear those old Spartan Race shirts.”

  Daniel’s eyes grew wide.

  “Woah...”

  “What?”

  “I think you might have helped me figure it out,” without another word, he turned and rushed back into the home.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

  Oklahoma City Protective Zone, Oklahoma

  Day 5

  The light reflected off the windshield of the armored vehicle outside and passed through the large picture window, blinding the man if he happened to hold his head a certain way. Rather than letting it bother him, he smiled and slid his chair to the left, escaping the light’s glare. Smiling, he picked up the sheet of paper in front of him. Holding it in his hand for a second, he stared absently across the room, unable to wipe the smile from his face.

  Today is going to be a great day.

  “Are you okay, Sir?”

  Pulled from his reverie, Walters looked towards the sound of the voice. Sergeant Ferrell stood in the doorway, looking at him questioningly.

  “Of course, Sergeant,” he said, smiling. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  The young Black man shrugged. “Oh, um, no reason, it’s just, I mean - ”

  “Spit it out, Sergeant.”

  Ferrell swallowed heavily. “You’ve just been so stressed lately, Sir, that’s all.”

  ‘Not a bad recovery,’ Walters thought to himself. ‘Not bad at all.’ Nodding in agreement, he looked at the young man. “That’s true, Sergeant. I have been rather stressed lately.” Sighing, he leaned back in his chair. “But yesterday, things started to come together.”

  “Really, Sir? I thought that the
last fire at the food distribution center put us in a bad spot.”

  “Ahhh, pssh,” Walters said, waving his hand. “A temporary issue. We’ll have more food brought in on one of the next resupply runs. It’s nothing that can’t be overcome.”

  Sergeant Ferrell nodded enthusiastically. “That is good news, Sir,” he said.

  “Yes, it is, Sergeant, but it isn’t what’s got me feeling so...upbeat, I guess you’d say.”

  “What is it, then, Sir? The arrival of the doctors from Mount Weather?”

  “That’s part of it, Sergeant,” Walters replied, nodding. “But it’s something more,” he added.

  “What’s that, Sir?”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Major Cotton arrive with a pair of soldiers. Smiling, he said, “Plans coming together,” before looking past the Sergeant. Locking eyes with Cotton, he said, “Take him away.”

  “What? What’s happening?” Sergeant Ferrell asked, as the two enlisted men came forward on either side of him. They grabbed his arms forcefully and began pulling them behind his body. “What are you doing?” he asked, raising his voice. “Get off me!”

  “I suggest you cooperate, Sergeant,” Walters said, chiding him. “I’ve given them permission to shoot anyone that doesn’t, and although I don’t believe you’ll fit into my plans, you have been a good assistant. I’d hate to see you take a bullet.” After a moment, he shrugged. “But the choice is yours.”

  Sergeant Ferrell’s jaw dropped in response to Walters’s comments, causing him to stop struggling. Using a pair of Flexicuffs the two men quickly secured his wrists behind him. Grabbing his elbow, one of the men pulled him towards the door.

  “I don’t understand, Sir. What is this?”

  “This,” Walters spread his hands, “is me making the most of the opportunity that fell into my lap. Taking advantage of the chance for atonement.”

  Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on the desk and clasped his hands together as he stared at the Sergeant. “My proper opportunity was taken from me because a handful of soldiers couldn’t manage themselves. Nothing they did was my fault, but yet, when it came down to it, guess who took the fall?”