This is the End 3: The Post-Apocalyptic Box Set (8 Book Collection)
Page 131
I told him my story, or at least the highlights.
“When did you serve?” He asked. Not, ‘did you serve’. Even now I guess I wore the look that was obvious to another soldier. I told him and gave the generic answer when asked about my MOS – Military Occupational Specialty – of 11B or infantryman. Technically that was true as I had started out as an infantryman before applying and being accepted first into Ranger School then progressing from there. My clothing covered tattoos that would have answered his questions in more detail, but I felt OK giving the answer. I didn’t know why I wanted to stay under the military’s radar, but something was telling me to play it low key.
He was also curious about Rachel and I evaded the questions as best I could, not wanting to go into the details of what she had been through. Standing close to us listening, Rachel got the idea, stepped forward and linked her arm through mine.
“Put it this way, Colonel. We’ve been together since we met at his hotel in Atlanta.” She gave a coy smile, leaned her head onto my shoulder and let him draw whatever conclusion he wanted. I could see the wheels turning behind his eyes but he apparently decided to let it go for now.
“OK then,” He pushed off from the fender and stood up straight. “We should get you checked in with the intel guys so you can get them taken care of then get some chow and some rest. Hop in.” He gestured at the Security Forces Hummer with his thumb, waved Anderson and Mayo over and climbed behind the wheel.
40
Colonel Crawford drove straight to a large building on the far side of the base, parking in a spot reserved for a Major somebody. The four story building was substantial looking as most buildings on military installations are, built of all red brick with a concrete porch running the full width of the front of the building. Heavy Roman style columns painted a gleaming white supported the four story high roof that extended out over the porch. All the windows were dark and as we got closer it was obvious they were covered on the inside with blackout curtains.
Two Air Force MPs – oops – stood on either side of the front entrance. They snapped to attention when the Colonel was close enough for them to see his uniform in the dark, then one of them stiffly reached out and held the door open for us. Crawford strode into the dark vestibule either like he owned the place or he was attacking it, I wasn’t quite sure which, waited for all of us to enter the building and the door to close behind us then brushed aside the blackout curtain and led us down a brightly lit hall.
He stopped at an unmarked door that was closed and locked, knocked loudly and stood waiting. The impatience fairly oozed out of him and as soon as the door started to open he pushed through, waving for us to follow. The room was actually a series of large rooms connected together and was well staffed even at this hour.
Anderson and Mayo were met by an Air Force Master Sergeant who led them down a long hall that opened up to our left. He placed each of them in separate rooms that opened off the hall then returned to gather us. Rather than straight to an interview room he led us to his desk where we were each asked to place our right hand on a palm reader that sat on the edge of the desk and connected to his PC via a long USB cable.
Rachel went first, the device scanning her hand and fingerprints in only a few seconds, then it was my turn. With a sigh I rested my right hand on the backlit glass plate and the machine flashed green when it had read my hand. Crawford stood behind us, waiting patiently now, as the intel clerk stared at his monitor waiting for the results.
“Ms. Miles, welcome to Arnold Air Force Base.” He said when the system returned data on her scan. I wondered how many databases the military was tied into now. Probably everything.
“Thank you,” Rachel gave him her best smile and he blushed slightly before focusing back on his monitor. Almost two full minutes later he blinked in surprise and looked up.
“Colonel, his data is classified above my clearance. You’ll need to enter your credentials.” He stood up, gave me a questioning look and moved far enough away that he couldn’t see the monitor.
Crawford came around and sat in the empty chair, looked away in thought for half a second then typed in what I assumed was a user ID and password. He then stood and turned the palm reader towards him, placed his right hand on it and hit a button on the keyboard with his left index finger. When the light glowed green he sat back down and stared at the monitor. And stared some more, then scrolled with the mouse and stared some more. Apparently satisfied with the results he clicked the mouse a few times and nodded to the clerk who returned to his desk.
“Ranger, Green Beret, assigned to Operational Detachment Delta. Saw action in Afghanistan, East Germany, Honduras and Nicaragua with a whole string of missions that are classified even higher than my clearance. Infantry my ass. I didn’t think so.” He said and I could only offer a grin in response.
“You’re Delta Force?” The clerk blurted out, then slammed his mouth shut and busied himself with his computer when Crawford gave him a look that could freeze iron.
“I hope you’re still going to be able to grin after I tell you this,” Crawford smiled. “The President has ordered the recall of all former military personnel with no exceptions granted. Welcome back to the US Army, Master Sergeant.”
What a bag of dicks!
Loving the adventure? Crucifixion: Voodoo Plague Book 2 is available now on Amazon. Please visit my author page at www.amazon.com/author/dirkpatton to find it as well as Rolling Thunder: Voodoo Plague Book 3. Red Hammer, the fourth book in the series is slated for release in the fall of 2014. Thank you for reading!
Author’s Note
Like many people these days I’m a fan of apocalyptic fiction and am an avid reader and watcher of all things zombie or zombie-like. I used to work for a company that required my travel to the Atlanta area, and the hotel and swampy marsh described early in the book really exist just as described. In fact I got the idea for this book while staying at the hotel when I got up one morning, looked out the window and saw a thick layer of mist laying on top of the water. Two locals, wearing waders and carrying long poles (I never found out what they were doing) were moving slowly through the thigh deep water looking for something, and their resemblance to shambling zombies was downright eerie.
I’ve read too many books and watched too many TV shows and movies where the writers, at least for my taste, spent way too much time padding their word counts with unnecessary descriptions, dialogue and flashbacks. I wanted to tell a fast paced story and drop in nuggets of detail along the way, hopefully ending up with one of those books that you just have to see what happens next, over and over, until you look at the clock and its waaay past your bedtime.
I also wanted to introduce an element of the very dangerous world we live in. A world where the population is quickly starting to outpace our planet’s ability to support us, and one in which I am fairly confident the next major global conflict will be fought over our dwindling natural resources. Could it happen? Perhaps not flesh eaters created by a chemical weapons, but aren’t they fun?!
For those readers that are familiar with the Atlanta area you will recognize some of the locations described and you won’t recognize others. I’ve taken a lot of liberties with different locations, changing them as necessary to make the story work. Anything that is not accurate is completely intentional.
Thank you for reading Voodoo Plague, and if you enjoyed it I would very much appreciate your positive review on Amazon. You can also follow me at Facebook.com/FearThePlague and email me at voodooplague@gmail.com. I would love to hear what’s on your mind.
Dirk Patton December, 2013
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This is the End includes:
~Slow Burn: Zero Day, Book 1 by Bobby Adair (4.4 stars on 354 reviews)
~The Retreat #1: Pandemic by Craig DiLouie with Stephen Knight and Joe McKinney (4.5 stars on 41 reviews)
~Diary of the Displaced - Book 1 - The Journal of James Halldon by Glynn James (4.3 stars on 123 reviews)
~Earthfall by Stephen Knight (4.0 stars on 142 reviews)
~Contamination Prequel (Post-Apocalyptic Zombie Series) by T.W. Piperbrook (3.8 stars on 48 reviews)
~Affliction Z: Patient Zero (Post Apocalyptic Thriller) by L.T. Ryan (4.4 stars on 58 reviews)
~Reversion: The Inevitable Horror (The Portal Arcane Series - Book I) by J. Thorn (3.9 stars on 33 reviews)
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Do you love post-apocalyptic stories? This is the End 2 will keep you reading for days. Get this collection now. It includes 9 novels from 10 of today's best-selling writers of dark fantasy.
*This anthology contains scenes of graphic violence that are intended for adults and may be offensive to sensitive readers. Some titles in the anthology are the first book in a series, and others are standalone novels (review average and count accurate as of May 1st, 2014).
This is the End 2 includes:
~DEAD: Steve's Story by T.W. Brown (4.6 stars on 19 reviews)
~The Forgotten by Jacqueline Druga (4.5 stars on 12 reviews)
~Love and Decay Volume One: Season 1 by Rachel Higginson (4.6 stars on 47 reviews)
~The Last to Fall by Glynn James (4.3 stars on 15 reviews)
~Timecaster by J.A. Konrath (3.9 stars on 109 reviews)
~After: First Light by Scott Nicholson (3.4 stars on 51 reviews)
~Zombie Patrol (Walking Plague Trilogy #1) by J.R. Rain and Elizabeth Basque (4.1 stars on 76 reviews)
~Breakers by Edward W. Robertson (4.4 stars on 455 reviews)
~The Seventh Seal by J. Thorn (3.0 stars on 105 reviews)
Any fan of "28 Days", "I Am Legend", or "The Walking Dead" will love This is the End!
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~Kin by Kealan Patrick Burke (4.5 stars on 87 reviews)
~The Colony: Genesis by Michaelbrent Collings (4.3 stars on 56 reviews)
~Chronicler of the Undead by Mainak Dhar (4.4 stars on 26 reviews)
~Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman (3.8 stars on 48 reviews)
~Chasing Spirits by Glynn James (4.2 stars on 22 reviews)
~The Home by Scott Nicholson (3.7 stars on 299 reviews)
~Preta's Realm: The Haunting (Book 1 of The Hidden Evil Trilogy) by J. Thorn (4.0 stars on 50 reviews)
Any fan of "American Horror Story" or "The Twilight Zone" will love From Darkness Comes!