When she yawned, Marcus thought he ought to check the time. “Jocelyn, what time is it?”
“Marcus, the time is 12:54 a.m.,” she said.
They both looked at each other in shock and almost simultaneously said, “We’ve got to get to bed.”
They laughed again and got up from the couch and went into Marcus’ old bedroom, which was where Wynd slept now. Because the house was so full of people, Marcus had moved to the man cave. As he started toward the hallway leading to the man cave, he turned to her and said, “I’ll see you in the morning.” He then leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
She smiled and said, “See you in the morning.”
Chapter Twenty One
The next morning, after breakfast, Marcus and the girls loaded up and headed to Chattanooga. With the exception of Virginia, the girls giggled and laughed most of the way except when they had to stop a couple of times for a group of brachiosaurs that had taken up residence at the foot of the mountain. Although the group was becoming more and more accustomed to the dinosaurs, the sheer size and majesty of the bigger ones were awe inspiring. Jocelyn had the drone out scouring the area to look for potential threats. Once, during one of their stops, a small pack of raptors came close to them so they stayed in the MAV for a while until they cleared the area.
To save time, after visiting several stores, they travelled to a large mall in the area and made their way through it. The interior of the mall was in pretty bad shape and some of the stores were badly damaged but surprisingly several of the stores were intact because they had been shut down and locked behind huge metal doors before the mall closed.
Some doors took some work with a small laser Marcus had acquired and others were just a matter of busting some glass. While the girls were combing through some of the clothing shops, Marcus made his way to a couple of the gaming stores in the mall. It didn’t take him long to find the light sword Rom was wanting. He picked up several other items that he was sure Rom would want for Christmas gifts. Last night before they went to bed, Marcus and Wynd had decided they would split up duties on the presents. Marcus would get gifts for the boys and Wynd would get gifts for the girls.
He was several stores away from the girls when he heard them scream. He took off running their way. “Jocelyn, what’s wrong?” he said as he raced along the mall.
“The girls have encountered some wildlife,” she said.
“What? I thought you were maintaining a sweep of this area!” he said as he was almost to the store they were in.
“I am constantly monitoring the area for any potential threats. The animals that they have encountered are not dangerous. They have found a canine and her puppies. Actually, based upon the readings I’m receiving, they are quite the opposite…,” she said as Marcus stopped dead in his tracks.
“What?!” he said bending over to catch his breath. “Dogs? And they’re friendly?”
Marcus wasn’t used to seeing dogs or cats. There weren't many around anymore. Marcus figured that most had become snacks for some of the prehistoric animals roaming around. If you did see some they were wild and would attack if you got close to them. He made it to the back of the store where they were all gathered around holding three little puppies. The mother was lying on an old rug in the corner. It was a beagle. She was white with a few spots of brown and she was wagging her tail. It amazed Marcus that she was alive. There was no way she could have survived in the mall for this long. She must have a way out.
Wynd brought the puppy she was holding over to him and offered it to him. He shook his head and declined. He didn’t want to get attached. They didn’t need extra mouths to feed especially if they didn’t serve a purpose.
Wynd looked up at him with her own puppy dog eyes and said, “Can we keep them? Pleeeease…,”
The others chimed in at the same time, “Pleeeease…,”
“No. We don’t need any more mouths to feed,” Marcus said, shaking his head from side to side.
The mood in the room quickly turned from joy to sadness. Marcus thought that maybe he even saw a tear. That went on for a couple of minutes and he finally couldn’t take it anymore.
“Fine. On one condition. Y’all have to take care of them, not me. Y’all have to provide the food and water for them. Do we have a deal?” he asked.
All of them spoke at once and said, “DEAL!”
Then they all started hugging him until he finally was able to break free. Embarrassed he told them he had some more things to get and took off. Marcus picked up several gifts and headed back to the MAV. Earlier he had Jocelyn drive the MAV through some maintenance doors and park in the middle of the mall. Apparently the girls had been very busy. When he saw the boxes and bags the girls had picked up, Marcus was sure glad he had attached the box trailer to the MAV before they left. It looked like they were going to need every inch of it.
Each time he would go get something and come back the trailer had more in it. It was only matter of time before it was filled. Marcus had finished picking up gifts for everyone except for one person and that was Wynd. After he had thought about it, he had finally made a decision about what to get her. He went back and picked up the gifts he was looking for and he wrapped them up, making sure she couldn’t figure out what they were.
When he got back to the MAV, it was all he could do to fit them in the trailer. The girls were waiting on him. They loaded the dog and her pups into the back of the MAV and then they loaded themselves in the MAV. Once everything was loaded they headed back to the compound. Luckily they didn’t encounter any of the larger carnivores on the way back. Marcus wasn’t sure they could keep the dogs quiet if one came close by. He knew that the shield was not as strong when it was covering the MAV and the trailer.
They basically had another huge party when they got back. The kids had never had a pet and they were overjoyed. As soon as Marcus showed the gaming light sword to him, Rom took it and vanished. Marcus was laughing about it when he appeared out of nowhere again and said thank you. Marcus blinked and he was gone again.
Finally after everyone had finally worn themselves out and went to bed, Marcus decided that it was time for him to turn in too. Even though he was also completely worn out, it took Marcus over an hour to get to sleep. The two holidays they had celebrated were the happiest Marcus had experienced since the virus hit. He felt he had a family again and he was thrilled. He hoped that this was a new beginning and that they had finally gotten past the point of just surviving. Now, they could get on with living.
Chapter Twenty Two
Marcus and Kim had been discussing David for several days. Kim was convinced that David was still alive and wanted to go look for him. So far, Jocelyn, Savvy, and Rom had not had any luck. Marcus decided that they would not make a move to look for him until they had at least a hint that he was still alive. It would be hard not to do something but he thought it would be useless as hunting for a needle in a haystack without at least a clue to where he might be.
To keep her mind off going and looking for him, Marcus decided to send Kim with the MAV to the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville to get a replacement for the bad solar collector on the second MAV and to get the machine gun attachment for the drone. He had been there before and thought that as long as the area was cleared by Jocelyn and the drone she shouldn’t have a problem getting in and out. Plus, he knew his sister was tough and wouldn’t break if an emergency came up.
Marcus and Kim were loading the MAV and getting ready for the trip when Wynd asked to speak to Marcus alone. She took him aside and encouraged Marcus to go with Kim. Kim and Marcus hadn’t been around each other for several years. She had left for the military the year before the virus hit so it had been quite a while. Marcus wanted to stay but decided that Wynd was right about it being a good opportunity to spend some time with his sister. The trip wouldn’t take but a couple of days so he decided to go. They attached the trailer to the MAV so that they could load up with as much as they could find.
/> Due to the dinosaur migration they had to make several detours and stops. Roads were blocked and trees were down everywhere. Back before the virus hit, it would have taken about two hours to get there. It took them over six hours to get there today.
Redstone is a large place. Marcus had been there at least three times before and still hadn’t covered all the buildings on the property. Even that wouldn’t have been possible if he hadn’t stumbled across an email mistakenly sent to one of the places he had scoured. Apparently someone connected with Redstone had sent out a file with the access codes because they were shutting the place down. After inputting them into Jocelyn, he basically had access to over ninety-five percent of the base.
The two parts they were looking for took about an hour to find and locate. Jocelyn pinpointed their location but they were located in two separate buildings. Satisfied they had found the parts they were wanting, Marcus and Kim began loading the MAV and trailer with extra supplies and ammunition they found. They also found an upgraded model of the drone. It was larger than the ones they already had and wouldn’t fit in the trailer. Marcus and Kim took the drone outside to let it set in the sun. Hopefully after about an hour charging in the sun, Jocelyn could fly it home.
Later, after they had almost finished loading the trailer, they decided to stay for the night in one of the buildings that Marcus hadn’t been in before. It had a canopy shield but the command module was missing so it wasn’t active. Jocelyn was able to connect to it and activate it for the night. Before turning in for the night, Marcus and Kim investigated most of the building except for one level.
The bottom level, which was three stories underground, was off limits and Jocelyn went through every access code but was unable to access that level. It was active even without the shield being active. Marcus had an idea and had Jocelyn create an algorithm using the other codes that he had and began trying codes that it generated. It took about an hour and over two trillion codes before she hit the right one. Once she cleared it and shut down the defense grid for the level, Marcus and Kim went to investigate.
Once they were in, they realized why this level was so protected. It was one arm of the strategic defense command for the eastern United States and everything was still operational. Over five years without any human contact and the system was still up and running. Marcus was impressed. This level held the defense controls for the entire east coast of the United States. Marcus had Jocelyn analyze the system and give him an update of its capabilities. It took until about midnight for her to compile all the information.
“Marcus, I have finished analyzing the system and its capabilities,” she said.
Marcus waved Kim over and had Jocelyn use the external speakers of the room to talk.
“The defense system for the eastern United States is still approximately fifty percent operational. This system is currently linked to six other operational command centers across the eastern U.S. Missile capability stands at seventy-three percent. Air defense stands at sixty-seven percent. Naval defense stands at thirty-percent. Land defense stands at forty-one percent. Of course, these percentages are contingent upon having the human manpower to fill positions. Without the manpower, the total operational status of the system is approximately twenty-five percent,” she stated.
“Have the defenses for the other command centers been breached?” asked Marcus.
“No. Although two of the centers are currently occupied, the command center’s security remains intact,” she said.
“Do you know who is occupying the centers?” asked Kim.
“One center has a group of unknowns and one is occupied by the Jackals,” said Jocelyn.
Marcus thought for a minute and asked Jocelyn to run facial recognition on all the people at both centers and let them know if she found anything interesting. He knew it might take some time for the camera to pick up the faces so Marcus and Kim decided to get some sleep and see if Jocelyn found anything before they left in the morning.
Chapter Twenty Three
The next morning they woke up and ate the breakfast they had packed and got ready to leave. Jocelyn was still processing. She told them that she had processed approximately every face besides a couple of the prisoners at the base.
“Prisoners? What kind of prisoners do they have?” asked Marcus.
“The ones at this base are mostly there for slave labor. Several farm an area on the outside of the base to supply food. Others clean and maintain the base,” she said.
“Okay. Jocelyn, we are ready to leave. Can you close this level and secure it? And possibly maintain a connection with the base?” he said.
“Yes, Marcus. With the access codes and the control of this level I am able to have full control of anything operational at this base and the other bases,” said Jocelyn.
“Okay. That’ll work. Come on Kim. Let’s head for home,” said Marcus.
Before Marcus and Kim could leave, Jocelyn spoke up again, “Marcus, I have picked up someone on facial recognition.”
Marcus and Kim both looked at the large screen that crossed the wall. It was a picture of man working in a garden with a hoe. He was wearing a dirty jumpsuit full of holes, he was extremely undernourished, and he was extremely dirty himself. Jocelyn zoomed in closer on his gaunt face. The man had been beaten up and had dried blood on his face. Marcus and Kim both looked at each other and then again at the screen. There was no doubt. The man they were looking at was their brother David.
The End
…if you enjoyed this, be sure to be on the lookout for the fourth installment of Tomorrow’s Past entitled “Tomorrow’s Past: The Raid” by Everette Morgan. Marcus and Kim go after their brother and is someone about to find Marcus’ protected haven? Thanks to everyone that purchased this novella.
About the Author:
Everette Morgan lives with his wife and kids in the most northwestern part of Georgia at the southern tip of the Appalachian mountain chain. His hobbies include fishing, hunting, sleeping, and reading… sometimes all at the same time. This is his third venture into writing. Constructive criticism is always welcomed and you can leave any comments/suggestions at [email protected]. Also, be sure to ‘like’ his page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/EveretteMorgan480 .
Check out his other books on Amazon Kindle.
1. Tomorrow’s Past: The Hunt
2. Tomorrow’s Past: The Rescue
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
About the Author
The Reunion Page 6
