Deep Freeze: Protocol One, Book 2 (Protocol One Saga)

by Jacqueline Druga

  Finally, Walt left. Not that he wasn’t a nice guy, but I wanted that room to myself. It gave me the chance to put on the camera outside Gwen’s room.

  I switched that on, the hallway was empty and then I checked my satellite feed.

  Oddly, there was nothing from the International Space Station. They usually sent me a few images of cloud coverage so I could try to predict the weather.

  Slightly concerned, I lifted the radio and called out. “This is Protocol One, calling Damnation Alley. Are you there? Over.”

  Mulligan, my favorite radio guy and soldier from Damnation Alley responded. “I’m here. Over.”

  “Good to hear you,” I said. “Your voice is clearing up.”

  Mulligan had been suffering from an ongoing bout with bronchitis. His voice thickened while he was sick. I envisioned a big red haired man on the radio. Perhaps the name gave me that vision.

  “Mulligan, have you gotten anything from the ISS? My feed is empty today.”

  “Nothing today. I can try to reach out. How are you, Pete?” he asked. “Over.”

  “I’m good. You? Over.”

  “I’m good. I mean with the exile. I know it was sudden and seemed like a bad move, but you hadn’t said anything at all. So I figured those guys did something really bad.”

  What? My mind blasted. What was he talking about?

  Exile? They were kicking someone out? It was warming up, yes, but it was still hovering at freezing level, and weather was unstable. It wasn’t safe to do.

  Immediately, I started switching up the monitors. Looking for who left or any signs of an exile.

  “Mulligan, who and when did the exile take place?”

  “You don’t know?”

  “Negative.”

  “Just about twenty minutes ago. We received word our man arrived and yours was leaving.”

  Bingo.

  Monitor three.

  Exterior. I saw the vehicle outside the bay doors. They were still there, they hadn’t left.

  “I guess they were going to tell you,” Mulligan said. “I am surprised you didn’t know. After all, you arrived with them. Over.”

  “Let me get back to you.” My eyes stayed transfixed on the screen. “Thank you for the info. And hey, uh, don’t tell anyone you told me in case you weren’t supposed to. Over.”

  “Roger that. Out.”

  “Out.” Radio down, eyes still on the monitor, I knew I had to do something. I was alone in the safe room, if I waited on Tom, whoever was leaving would be long gone, and I didn’t want that to happen.

  I could only guess who was leaving. I was up and awake. Why didn’t I hear any commotion?

  I had three options.

  One, I could wait for Tom and then investigate.

  Two, I could run to the bay doors and find out myself.

  Or three, my best option. Get Anna, because I was certain she didn’t know and if anyone could stop it, she could.

  Doing something I would never had done before, I left the safe room unattended and raced out. I didn’t really worry about the consequences, after all, I wasn’t even supposed to be on duty.

  EIGHTEEN – EXILE

  It was not unusual at all for Joie to wake me in the middle of the night or wee hours of the morning to walk her to the bathroom. Nor was it uncommon for Tony to nudge me to tell me I was snoring. It was, however, highly unusual for Peter to wake me. In fact, it was the first time ever and I jolted awake.

  He poked me three times with his bony finger, whispering my name. “Anna. Anna.”

  I gasped as I sat up. “What?”

  “Get dressed. Hurry. Meet me at the safe room.”

  My mind was still spinning in a half sleep state, I barely muttered out, “Why?” when the door opened and closed. Peter was gone.

  How did he even get in the room?

  I glanced at the alarm clock and it was just after 5:30. If he was secretly coming in the room then it was more than just an information meeting.

  Slipping from bed, I grabbed my clothes from the chair.

  “Why was Peter in our room?” Tony asked groggily.

  “He needs to talk to me about something in the safe room.” I began to get dressed.

  “He’s not on duty yet.”

  “Go back to sleep. I’m sure it’s nothing,” I said.

  “If he’s grabbing you at this hour, it’s something. Peter is flakey but he doesn’t over react.”

  “I know, and that worries me.” I pulled on my boots. “I’ll come back if there’s a problem.”

  “It’s probably something weather related. You know he gets those images from the space station.”

  “Probably.” I darted a kiss to Tony and hurried from the room.

  Even though Peter needed me right away, I made a dash to the bathroom, and a quick brush of my teeth that would make any dentist cringe. It was a good thing I made that stop, because when I came out of the rest room, Gil was walking up the hallway, carrying a mug of what I could only assumed was coffee.

  “Anna,” he said brightly as he approached. “You’re up early.”

  “I … I couldn’t sleep.”

  “Need company?” He asked.

  “No. But …” I grabbed the mug from his hand and after a sniff, I took a couple healthy swallows of the coffee and handed it back to him. “Thanks.” I walked by him.

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “Um … to get coffee and see if ISS images are in.”

  “Wanting to get a jump on them before Peter?”

  “Yep.” I nodded. “See ya in a bit.” Not wanting to draw attention, as if being up that early wasn’t attention enough, I walked casually to the stairwell, but once through the door, I raced up the stairs and to the safe room.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, closing the door.

  “Took you long enough,” Peter said.

  “I’m sorry I had to go to the bathroom and I ran into Gil.”

  “Floor one.”

  “Yeah, I guess going to this room. What’s going on?”

  Peter exhaled and ran his hand through his hair. “They’re gone.”

  “I’m sorry. Who?”

  “My guess, Duke, Craig, Spencer and Skyler.”

  “Wait. What do you mean, they’re gone?” I asked.

  “Exiled. I found out when I spoke to Mulligan. I’ve been watching through the monitor.”

  “On foot?”

  “No, they were given a van. “

  “I’m killing him. Gil just kicked them out without letting them say, ‘Goodbye’?”

  “They were sly about it. Doing it before anyone woke up. My guess Gil had everything ready and they escorted them out.”

  My eyes lifted to the monitor of outside. “How long?”

  “They just pulled through the gates.”

  I nodded quickly, trying to take everything in. Knowing what had to be done, I opened the left drawer next to where Peter sat and removed a set of keys. When I did, I noticed the folder on the desk. “Is that the Gwen info?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  I flipped open the folder, Peter had everything neatly tabbed, unlike my folder and I found the information I was looking for. “I’ll be back.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “To try to catch them.” I opened the safe room door.

  “What do I tell Gil or Tony if they ask?”

  “The truth.” Keys in hand along with the Gwen information, I ran from the safe room and headed topside.

  NINETEEN – DIRECTION

  Fueled by anger and not quite coherent enough to make sound decisions, I fled from the safe room, making it topside and to the Humvee before I was noticed.

  Some lame guard called out for me to stop, but I didn’t. I wasn’t even wearing a coat. The snow had started to melt, and following fresh tracks was impossible. My only guess is they were headed south, maybe even back toward Pittsburgh.

  In a barren world, there is no traffic, few sounds, and visibili
ty was good. It took me twenty minutes at uncomfortable fast driving speed to spot them just outside Elwood City. When I did, I beeped my horn and flashed my lights. It didn’t take long for the van to pull over.

  I drove up alongside of them, and Spencer who had been driving was out of the van before I slipped from the Humvee.

  “Anna, what the hell?”

  I caught my breath.

  “Where is your coat?” Spencer asked.

  “Really? You guys are exiled and you ask where my coat is?” I laughed. “I’m sorry. I just … Peter got me and told me. I had to chase you down.”

  Craig, Skyler and Duke had exited the van.

  “What happened?” I asked. “Tell me exactly what happened?”

  Craig started. “I got the knock on the door just before five, pretty much Gil and two guards telling me we were out. Just like he said. They had a packed van and said bye.”

  “Why didn’t you fight?” I asked. “Find me or Tony?”

  “We were escorted,” Duke said. “To the door. There wasn’t time. Skyler barely caught us.”

  “What a dick,” I shook my head. “He acted as if it was over. Good thing Peter saw and got me.”

  “Anna,” Craig reached out to my shoulder. “We appreciate you coming here, but we aren’t going back. We talked about it. We aren’t.”

  “We’re a team,” I said. “A family. We’ve all been through the worst together. Melissa, Nelly none of us want to be separated.”

  Craig nodded. “I understand. I do. But we can’t live like that. We mess up we’re out. So if you came out here to get us back. It’s not gonna work.”

  “I had a feeling about that. How much gas do you have?”

  Spencer answered. “A full tank and ten gallons spare. They gave us supplies and food. He …” Spencer chuckled. “Didn’t exile us empty handed. So we figure go south, and find a place to start over.”

  “Good.” I said. “Not good you’re leaving, but good. Maybe you can get it started for all of us.”

  “What do you mean?” Duke asked.

  I lifted a finger, opened the Humvee door and retrieved the papers I took from Peter.

  “Down near Charlton, West Virginia is a small fuel repository. I don’t know how much is there, it is more of a filler station.” I handed the sheet to Duke. “In Virginia, there is a food repository. Located under an old factory. The factory may be gone, but there is an underground hatch.” I handed another sheet to Duke. “And finally, in South Carolina is the Dylan camp. A former plantation that Gil purchased and had fenced in. It’s bare. It’s not build up. It needs to be primed for planting. All the information you need to find the stuff is right there.”

  Spencer looked over Duke’s shoulder to the papers. “These are like the places out west. Not as big though.”

  I shook my head. “Remember Gil saying he had the fan out method for building camps. This location is one of the locations. He has no clue that I have this information. So secure it. Hopefully we will be there before Gil decides to send a team there.”

  “He needs people first,” Spencer said. “He’s not really gathered survivors yet. He will though. It’s the plan for May and June.”

  “We’ll beat him to it. You get it ready, if you want …” I pointed. “And the rest of us will join you. It may take a while. But we will be there. This is a solid place for you to go.”

  Craig asked. “You have everything you need in that bunker Anna. Why would you want to go to a place and start from scratch?”

  “Well, I really won’t be starting from scratch. You guys will start from scratch. But I do have everything I need at the bunker, except freedom and open air. Do this. I’ll be there. But the main reason is, we have been through this all together. We’re family. Family sticks together.”

  Spencer embraced me. “We’ll do this.”

  “I know. Now go there, directly there. Don’t stop for anything.” I told them. “Find radios. If you can, radio in as some random survivors in a random location. Keep me posted if you can.”

  Craig held up a ‘scouts honor’ and stepped to me. “I will. We have a radio. Thank you. Stay safe up here.” He hugged me, stepped back and stopped. “Oh, Anna, should we only expect you, Tony and the others from the bunker or should we prepare for you to be like Moses and lead a large pilgrimage.”

  “Play it by ear,” I smiled.

  I said my goodbyes to them all, wishing them the best of luck. I felt good about giving them the information and I also felt confident they would have no problems pulling off the preparations. After all, anal Gil, set up the system. He was just not expecting me to be involved.

  After watching them drive off, I turned the Humvee around and headed back to the bunker. I had fifteen minutes until I returned and some thinking to do during the drive.

  Twenty – Biding Time

  It was only a matter of time before someone figured out I had taken the Humvee and drove off. I wasn’t gone long, not at all. No one came after me and I was sure, though, had I not replied to Gil’s radio call, someone would have.

  “Anna, do you read? Over.” Gil called out.

  Finally, after several attempts, I answered. “I read.”

  “Where are you? Over.”

  “A few minutes outside the gate.”

  “Coming or going?”

  “Returning,” I replied.

  Silence.

  “I thought you left for good.”

  “Don’t be silly, I’m not even dressed.” I hesitated before saying any more, quickly thinking of what I would tell him. ‘I just wanted to say goodbye to my friends and we’ll discuss this when I get there. Over. Out.”

  I wanted to scream at Gil, plan the ultimate punch to the face. However, I couldn’t. If I wanted Craig and the others to arrive down south safely and unknown, if I wanted to stockpile my own supplies to take with me and do so unnoticed, I had to act as if all was fine.

  In fact, anyone that wanted to leave with me had to act that way.

  I didn’t need to be head of GSS or a master detective to see something was terribly amiss. Three men exiled quietly at dawn.

  When I arrived back it was fifteen minutes after six. Tony probably didn’t even know I had left. Which was a good thing. I’d inform him of the plan when I returned to the room. Knowing Tony, he’d want to leave right away.

  But just like we planned the bunker and got things going, we’d have to do the same. This wasn’t a onetime move. This was long term survival.

  Gil was waiting in the bay when I returned. My insides shook when I saw him, yet I tried to remain calm.

  “Anna, I know you’re angry.”

  “Gil, I’m not angry. I’m indifferent.’

  “I know you’re probably wondering why I did this.”

  “I am.”

  “Anna,” He leaned to me. “Things need protected. I have to keep up appearances. I wish I could say more. I can’t. I didn’t want to get rid of them, I had to. The long term plan had to be protected and to do so, I had to keep up appearances.’

  “I understand.” I started to walk away.

  “Do you?” he asked. “Because I hope you do. If I really didn’t care, if I really wanted them exiled, would I have given them as much as I did?”

  Hearing that made me stop.

  He was right. If he exiled them for crimes, why would he care if they survived?

  “We’ll find them when we go out in a few weeks looking for survivors. We will. I gave them enough. And when they open the one food bag, they’ll find direction to a place they can go.”

  “Where?” I asked. “Where did you tell them to go?”

  “A depot I set up south of Pittsburgh. They can take shelter there. There are supplies.”

  Was the depot he spoke of the fuel repository? I wanted to ask, but I didn’t want him to know I had all that information.

  “What are you keeping up appearances for, Gil?”

  “Not what … who.”

  A simply nod
of my understanding and I walked away.

  The who could only be one person.

  Gwen.

  Gwen came from the Presidential camp. She had information on things Gil had. That camp was the government, and like I originally thought, the government needed what Gil had.

  <><><><>

  “He did what!” Tony blasted.

  “Lower your voice.”

  Tony’s face crinkled up as if it took every ounce of what he had to contain himself. “Lower my voice? You come in here, tell me this grand plan how we are going south after we skim from the top and stockpile, and then you just say, by the way, four of our people were tossed out?”

  “Because I knew you’d get out of control if I told you that first.”

  “Damn right. He kicked them out. Under our noses.”

  “He gave them supplies.”

  “Oh, isn’t he a bleeding heart.”

  “And he said he told them where to go.”

  “That’s bullshit,” Tony argued. “Why are you believing him?”

  “Because they told me how much they had. Duke said they weren’t short supplied. Would Gil have sent them out there with it if he were really all that bad?”

  “If he’s not the bad guy, here Anna, who is?” Tony asked.

  “Gwen.”

  “Gwen is a princess, she’s not a mastermind. She’s not smart enough.”

  “Tony she had all that information.” I said.

  “So if she had it all, why do you think she wants more?”

  “Because I think Gil has more.”

  Tony shook his head. “This makes no sense. So he kicks out our guys?”

  “Listen, I was thinking about this. He needs Gwen to see he is this big hard ass. He knows she knows things and doesn’t want that info to get back to the President’s bunker. So he appeases her. Joie even said she heard Gwen telling Gil he has too many secrets.”

  Tony groaned. “Listen, this ‘I want to be Saint Anna, believing in the good of all’, has gone on too long. Okay? Here’s the deal. Gwen knows what Gil has because Gil told her. They faked the divorce so he could stock up for them both on the side. He had every intention of coming here as well as Gwen. You were a ruse. You were never meant to have this forever. Only to get here and get it operational and growing. We all did. Our job is done. Their first step to control everything. The government has nothing to do with this. It’s all Gwen and Gil.”