Salvation | Book 1 | Salvation

by McNeil, Nick

  “So basically a societal reset, with some of our old luxuries.” Levi got out of his seat and paced the room.

  “Essentially,” Abe assured them. “Everything is set up for more people to fail than succeed. Slaving away for an average life. Working the majority of the hours you’re actually awake to never be able to afford a vacation. To feel hunger. Loans for literally everything, debts, college debt, people in prison for years beyond reasoning or things that should never have mattered,” Mr. Jones ranted.

  “Yeah, because rape and murder are awesome,” Dinesh mumbled.

  Clementine’s voice came out of nowhere. “How did you do it?”

  Abraham sat up, pushing some of the blanket off himself. He brushed his hands through his hair, setting some of it back in place permanently. “We started out with small scans of power plants and the three main power grids. They were harmless, never did a thing. The government most likely picked them up, but we needed to study the entire infrastructure of the power grid for years.” Abe’s hands waved around, and his teeth couldn’t hide behind his lips. “Then we progressed to blinding them, the government, from seeing any of their information, so to speak. We didn’t cause any power outages, but performed small tests to see if we could cut them off. To see if we could actually make the government go blind to their own system. Luckily weather conditions do this all the time, naturally, and they go blind pretty normally in some areas, so testing this out didn’t cause much alarm.” Abe stopped to check everyone’s reactions. “I feel like I lost you?”

  “In order to learn about what system you were dealing with, you needed to run discreet scans of everything,” Levi answered. “We get it. It’s just not interesting yet.”

  “I don’t understand at all.” Jay spoke up.

  “Let me take one step back.” Abraham held up his finger. “So, there are three main power grids, or interconnections, if you will, that power the entire country. There are the Western, Eastern, and Texas interconnections. These power grids power their entire sectors and can transfer energy across great distances. The reason power can be rerouted so easily is to prevent power outages. If one neighborhood goes down, another power plant can step in and provide it with power, making it so consumers never really see the effect at all.”

  “So you can send power anywhere?” Dinesh asked.

  “Sort of. Each of the three can share with itself and locally, but these main power systems do not really share with each other. If a blackout occurs in New York, California cannot send them energy. This is where there being three separate grids is key. These grids are comprised of several power-generating plants. These substations generate the energy that eventually powers homes. I won’t go into the whole process.” Abe gave a dismissive wave. “Now, here is where things get interesting. Whenever any of these plants disconnects from the grid, all of the surrounding plants will then transfer energy to the area in order to meet demand.”

  “Essentially, power plants will pick up the slack of another one in order to keep things normal,” Levi confirmed.

  “Yes!” Abe shouted. “However, if every single plant nears maximum capacity, then they cannot handle the extra power load. This alone causes the plant to shut down to avoid total failure from overloading.” Abraham’s eyes grew wide. “Therefore, if you disconnect enough power plants, then every plant will hit max capacity because they need to satisfy too many areas. In order for them to prevent themselves from overloading and failing, those plants also disconnect from the grid. Since the system is set up to draw power from another source when it shuts down, creating a demand that cannot be met, it will allow you to shut down the whole system.”

  “Okay, the grid system has a huge weakness. Like some Death Star bullshit.” Amelia gave a sarcastic thumbs-up.

  “The Death Star is not bullshit!” Dinesh and Levi belted out at the same time.

  “Luke literally needed the force.” Levi laughed to himself. “Not every average Joe just comes along—”

  Dinesh talked over Levi in his own conversation. “This thing destroyed planets, like that.” He snapped.

  Amelia ignored the two boys and carried on, “So how exactly did you guys exploit it?”

  “So what was our game plan?” When Abe spoke up, the boys’ hysterics ended. “Our plan was to plant malware that would cause this overload. Since the infrastructure of the power grid is getting more and more complicated, that means it is getting harder and harder to defend. This created a window of opportunity for us. Our goal was to move slowly and quietly. We never wanted to cause anything that could make someone bat an eye.” Mrs. Jones rested her head on Abe’s chest as he explained, “We worked to gain access to the grid’s safety instrumented system. This is a system that makes sure no physical systems operate outside of their normal state. These systems are literally separated from the rest of the network to ensure there is no damage in the event of a cyberattack. So we had to focus strongly on finding an effective way to deploy our malware without causing the system to enter its safe fail-over state.”

  “Because if that happens, you’d be locked out?” Jay asked.

  “Yes.” Abe pointed at Dinesh’s little brother in excitement. “We stayed discreet by searching every network that we could find for vulnerable features. It’s like door-to-door sales, except you rob the place once someone answers.” Mr. and Mrs. Jones were the only ones who laughed. “We searched until we stumbled upon a buggy version of Server Message Block. What was difficult was we had to find this insecurity inside each of the three grids. Once we did, we planted a malware that burrowed its way into the system and sabotaged the industrial controls. It’ll continuously attack plants across the entire grid at all times. The demand will be too great, never allowing another plant to turn itself back on again. They’re blind to what we are doing. Unless they figure out how to shut down the beast itself, they will never end the attacks spread across the entire system.”

  “So that’s it?” Levi cocked his head. “They’re just locked out, and the systems are constantly overloaded to where they can never come back on naturally?”

  “There is a denial-of-service attack enabled at this moment. All government officials and employees are completely blind, no access to their systems at all,” Abe reiterated. “We have also routed floods of telephone calls to all utility phone networks to overwhelm the systems. It’s small, but will really make things annoying. The government will be able to break back in, but there has never been a major cyberattack on the power grid, a successful one at least. Who knows how long before they can get back in. It took the FBI months just to crack an iPhone passcode.” Abe leaned back and sank into the sofa. “Any questions?”

  “Can’t they use some sort of stored energy from somewhere to help?” Jay promptly asked.

  “You’re smart; you should talk more.” Abe grinned. “But that’s just it.” He pointed his finger in the air. “There is no stored energy. We only create the perfect amount. We create the exact supply needed to meet demand. Now, there are some places that generate power differently than a power plant, but there is no infrastructure set up to spread that power by any effective means.” Mr. Jones quickly turned from rough and tough to an excited book nerd. “Any other questions?”

  Everyone looked around and waited for someone to speak up. Many simply mumbled to themselves. “Nope, we are pretty good,” Levi answered for everyone.

  “What about the fucking terrorist group?” Amelia backhanded her brother in the chest as he paced by. “So this is where you were all these years?” She glared at her father. “Running some scans, knockin’ on some virtual doors.” She licked her lips. “Cool.”

  “I think it’s more than that though, Amelia,” Levi rationalized. “It’s… changing the status quo. Everyone complains about how unfair everything is. This and that about the top 1%. Who gets what benefits and who doesn’t get this.” Levi looked at his parents. “No one ever thinks that they actually have the power to change anything. That’s why we don’
t even vote as a country. But, you.” He gestured at his father. “You actually did it. You changed everything. You broke every rule. Made everything as equal as it could be.”

  “Well, it wasn’t just me,” Abe reminded them. “There are a lot of us. All of whom sacrificed just as much. People who sacrificed everything they had just to try to save everyone.”

  “This is actually insane.” Dinesh stood up. “Levi, where is that CB radio? I’m going to try to see if I can pick anything up.”

  Levi walked to the other side of the room, grabbed his backpack, and placed it on the dining room table. The cabin was small and felt closer to a studio apartment than a house.

  “You have a radio?” Abe leaped out of his seat.

  “We stole it from school.” Dinesh crowded Levi and his father to take a look at the radio.

  “Uh-oh.” Levi reached into his backpack.

  “I don’t like uh-oh,” Dinesh mocked, nervously laughing.

  Levi dumped out his belongings. “It was in the other bag.”

  “How didn’t you notice that you weren’t carrying a giant-ass radio?” Amelia called out from across the room.

  “I don’t know!” Levi hissed. “There are a lot of bullets and things in here. It’s all heavy.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Abe rubbed the back of Levi’s neck. “I am assuming we ate all of the food last night.”

  “I cooked everything I could scrounge up,” Clementine replied, with her hands rubbing her stomach. “I’m still starving, to be honest.”

  “I think we all are.” Abraham walked back to the couch and kissed his wife on the back of the head. “Let’s get our things together and head out in an hour.”

  “I really thought you were in the dark with us this entire time.” Amelia made eye contact with her mother. “But by your lack of reaction, I am assuming you knew and supported this all along.”

  “I wish there were other ways,” Mrs. Jones replied. “I would have loved for him to simply ‘hack away’ from the basement.” She made air quotes. “But that wasn’t an option for us.”

  “I actually really don’t see why it wasn’t.” Amelia groaned and rolled her eyes.

  “Wait. Amelia is right.” Levi stopped reloading his backpack with the items he’d dumped out. “Wouldn’t it have been safer to have a really secure and untraceable server rather than constantly flying and traveling places?”

  A rock smashed through the window. “Won’t you come out and play?” a voice from outside called.

  “Saved by the bell.” Amelia rushed to the corner of the room where she’d left her rifle. Abraham and Levi did the same. Mrs. Jones pulled out her handgun from between the couch cushions, near where her head had rested, and jumped in front of Dinesh and Jay.

  “Come out, little piggies, before I huff and puff and blow your house down,” the man from outside continued.

  “We have one more box of 9mm and half a box of 5.56s,” Levi sounded off. “I reloaded everyone’s guns last night. We don’t have much firepower.”

  “Levi, let me use your other handgun.” Clementine reached out her hand. “I can help.”

  Levi handed her his Beretta.

  “I may have gotten off on the wrong foot. I am Jacob,” the man from outside shouted. “I didn’t have a chance to introduce myself to you all last night.”

  Jay crawled on the ground and looked under the crack of the front door. “There are only three of them.” He sat up and looked back. “It looks beat up, but they have a car.”

  “Now, if someone doesn’t come out and talk.” Jacob sprayed a handful of rounds into the cabin. “Then we are going to have a major problem.”

  “Levi and Clementine, circle around the back.” Mr. Jones signaled to the window. “Amelia, come outside with me. We will tell them that it was only us who made it.” Abe kissed his wife and walked out onto the front porch with Amelia. “How can we help you?” The sun peeked through the cloudy skies. It shined off the wet plants and damp ground left over from the morning dew.

  “Oh, well, look who it is.” Jacob laughed. “And armed to the teeth. This is just too pleasant.” He had two lackeys standing behind him, each with a pistol in hand. “Where is everyone else?”

  “No one else made it.” Levi put his finger on the trigger, but didn’t take aim. “Your people, I am assuming they’re your people, killed my friends and family last night.”

  Jacob bit his lower lip and kicked dirt around. “Now, why would you go and lie to me like that?” He threw his gun over his shoulder.

  “We aren’t lying,” Levi stated. “It’s just me and my daughter.”

  Jacob looked around at the birds in the trees and the critters crawling between the twigs and leaves on the ground. He looked Abraham in the eye and took aim. “I am as good as a dead man already. So I don’t mind taking an eye for an eye right now.” He fired off just above Amelia’s and Abe’s heads. “Don’t test me. I heard your little conversation in there. About the grid and the malware. All really juicy stuff. So”—his voice intentionally cracked—“unless I am going crazy and hearing things, I think I heard a whole lot of folks in there chatting this morning.”

  “Okay, okay.” Abe waved inside. Mrs. Jones, Dinesh, and Jay stepped out onto the front porch. Mrs. Jones’ pistol was concealed.

  “There we go.” Jacob lowered his weapon. “Now, was that so hard?”

  “What do you want?” Levi pressed.

  “Well, that actually isn’t for me to decide.” Jacob slid out his magazine and examined it. “Y’all have me so riled up, I’ve gone and lost count of how many bullets I’ve used.”

  Abraham looked around the property, checking the corners of the house and the surrounding bushes. He was sure not to move his head. He didn’t want Jacob to notice he was looking for anything. Abe squinted; he noticed the same heart tattoo under Jacob’s eye as the one the group had seen earlier. “And who exactly do you plan on taking us to?”

  Jacob closed his eyes and spread his arms, gun still in hand. “It isn’t who you are seeing. It is where you are going.” Eyes still closed, he brought his arms back in and placed both hands on his weapon. “You will be taken to the place where all sinners receive a fair judgment.”

  “A fair judgment?” Abe raised one eyebrow. “And how exactly is this determined?”

  “Through the word of the Lord, delivered to us by a prophet himself.” Jacob opened his eyes and took aim. “I do not have time for your stalling. Either disarm yourselves and come peacefully, or be prepared to exchange lives.”

  At 11 o’clock behind the men, Mr. Jones spotted his son and Clementine sneaking through the woods—firearms drawn. “Okay, we will come with you,” Abe replied. Levi went into prone position, crawling under a lush bush. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and took aim. Clementine remained standing as she squared off. “But first, what did you say you called yourselves again?”

  “Don’t ask questions you already know the answers to.” Jacob took several steps forward. “We are the liberators of the world, the messengers of He Himself. We are the Sons of Salvation.”

  “I’m a man of my word.” Abe placed his assault rifle on the wooden porch and stepped down the first step.

  Two shots reverberated through the trees, echoing half a dozen times. The birds stopped chirping and the grazing deer fled. Red mist flew from the forehead of the man Levi shot. He fell forward onto the ground face-first. A bullet found itself in the spine of the man Clementine shot. He dropped his weapon and grabbed his chest, looking at Jacob for help. He dropped to his knees while still gripping his chest. He fell face-first into the dirt, resting motionless.

  Jacob scurried forward and pushed the barrel of his assault rifle into the side of Abraham. “Not another move,” he exclaimed. He wrapped around Abe, facing his back toward the cabin and his chest toward the forest. “Come forward, and drop your weapons.” He pushed the barrel of the gun into Abe’s temple and turned to Amelia. “Drop it, now!”

/>   Amelia cooperated.

  “Come forward immediately. I know there are two of you. You have three seconds. One, two—”

  “Okay!” Levi arm crawled and pushed himself up, running before he ever found his footing. “Don’t shoot.”

  Clementine walked out from behind the bush, with her pistol targeting Jacob. “How do we know you aren’t going to shoot him right after we disarm ourselves?”

  Jacob clenched his jaw.

  “You’re outnumbered.” Levi pressed forward. “I’m not sure you’re in the place to be negotiating.” He took his time between each step. “I’d like to think I am a fair person, so here is what we will do.” His rifle pointed downward as he walked. “You’re going to drop your weapon and your car keys. And then you’re going to march inside that cabin. It’s yours now; congrats, you’re a homeowner.” Levi stopped walking. “And then we are going to take your…” Levi turned his head. “Ugh, then we will take your minivan and be on our way.”

  “Is that how you think this is going to go?” Jacob stepped back and held his gun at eye level, taking aim through his attached scope. His eyes rolled back and his brains splattered out the side of his face. The skin curled back, and smoke seeped through the exit wound. His gun hit the ground while his body stood like a plank. He blinked once and then collapsed, burying his face into the soil.

  Abraham looked back at everyone on the porch, jaw dropped. Mrs. Jones was in a standing position with her pistol drawn. She winked at her husband. “Smoked ’im,” she playfully cracked.

  “I love you,” Abe told his wife, making his way up the front porch steps. Mrs. Jones played it coy and waited for her husband’s embrace. Abe wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her into the air. She looked down at him, smiling ear to ear. From time to time, Mr. and Mrs. Jones found themselves forgetting about all else in the world. Each day they spent together reminded them of why they fell for one another in the first place.