Torn (47 page)

Confident
, Darius said. “
It
won’t
get
to that point, Mr.
Winslow
. Your
pilot
will
have to come and get us before the storm hits.”

“Then we’ll do that.”
His hand slipped from Bret’s. “See you soon.”

Bret
closed her
eyes.

Darius placed his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close. “We will see them again. I promise you.”

“I know.” She
inhaled deeply
and shivered. “I just want to get Andi.”

“We will.” Darius turned
Bret
to face him. “We will get her.”
He
paused
, and he and Bret both watched the plane begin to taxi. A finger to her cheek, he turned he
r head to him. “We will get her…
at any and all cost.”

The day before had been Labor Day
,
a
nd people
had
celebrated
. Many people began to prepare for the move back north.

The increasingly cloudy skies began to break up,
showing
a bit of the sun. A sun that
wreaked
so much
havoc
peeked through.

A good bit of the population went south after the lottery. Cities were
increasingly
barren
,
a
nd
the government said that
the best place to be on Labor Day was a refugee camp.

The
P
resident, like many other world leaders, delivered a hopeful speech to the population, encouraging them to keep the roadways clear and to hold off on returning north, just as a
precaution
, for two more days.

People didn’t listen. Although no one crossed back over the freeze line, they patiently
crow
ded the highways back north.

A bit of Martin
,
though happy, was irritated because he pegged the Tundra project all wrong. How could science, the actual science of it
have
been so
far
off
?

It worked? It really worked?

For two days.

Operation
M
ove, the act of moving the detainees to the GEP
,
would take 12 hours.

Those in detainment centers were
already
given their instructions, home location, and so forth. Over half of the lottery winners were already at the GEP.

Martin was in charge of giving the order to
implement
Operation Move.

A
nd he did so without hesitation
at 4
:
30 in the morning, staring at a weather image,
just
after receiving the news that a tornado blasted through a
line
of congested traffic on 1-95.

A line of traffic
where
people camped out waiting to return
north
. Cars were tossed about like toys.

Unlike originally thought in the short span afterwards, Tundra did not work
.

The o
rder
was
given.

Darius couldn’t
distinguish
exactly which sound woke him at 8
:
36 a
.m,
t
he thunder or the phone. Both occurred at the same time. He sat up in bed, as did Bret.

The room illuminated with a bright flashing light that seemed to be in perfect time with the pulsing light on the
satellite
phone.

Bret immediate jumped from bed.

“Hello.” Darius answered the phone, eye shifting about the
room
. He reached for the bed light
. . .
no electricity.

“Operation Move has
been
invoked. The transport arrives in one hour if you want to come and say goodbye.”

After a ‘thank you’ and a
‘
fuck
’
, Darius hung up. “They’re leaving.”

At the parted drapes, Bret
turned
around. “I’m ready.”

“Me
, too.”

For days they had been trying every channel to get Andi from the detainment center. Every legal channel. They failed. They took advantage of the three visiting times a day to see her, assure her, and Darius got to know each and every soldier that guarded the center.

Well, enough to be secure that one of them would call and let him know when the move was to take place.

Darius and Bret had prepared everything
,
m
oving things to the bunker, having the
H
umvees available, and staying at a hotel near the detainment center.

A little fifteen
-
room motor lodge, where the owner gave them the room for free and simply told them ‘lock up when you leave.
’

It was after eight in the morning, yet the s
ky was as black as night. Light
ning ripped across the sky sideways as clouds swirled about.

What had
happened
?

After visiting hours the night before, they were
hopeful
.

The sky was crystal clear and he and Bret sat outside, taking in the cool weather and looking at the stars.

What
had
happened?

The satellite phon
e rang as they finished backing
the
H
umvees
. Darius nodded to Bret to get in, as he closed the hatch, and secured his weapon.

The
wind whipped
about,
and he knew if he wanted to hear any of the call he’d have to get in the car.

Tossing in his weapon, Darius answered the phone as he slid in
to
the
H
umvee
.

“Dare-Dare. Have you gotten Andi?”
Colin
asked.

“On our way now,” Darius answered. “They’re moving her to the transport. A helicopter will land and take t
hem. But the wind has picked up
. . . .
”

“Well
,
pull
a
Rambo
if you must.”

“I plan o
n it, Colin, I
plan
on it.”
He
began
to drive.

“Do it fast, Dare-Dare.”

“What happened
,
Colin?
”

“Exactly what we though
t would happen
.
Satellite
images are more
frightening
th
a
n I ever thought. We’re gonna lose communication with you. But know this, you have two hours.”

Instinctively Da
rius’ foot wanted to hit the br
ak
e
s. “Two hours?”

Bret peeped out. “Two hours.”

“The storm isn’t even lowered yet. Two hours it will start. Once it does, expect hail the size of baseballs, winds at hurricane speed, and flooding. That’s all before the temperatures drop and the snow begins.”

“Got it.”

“Get to the bunker, Dare-Dare.”

A crash of thunder, flash of light
n
ing and the rain began. It fell
instantaneously
and hard. Darius turned
on the wipers. “We’ll get there;
somehow I think we have less than two hours.”

“Then don’t take a chance on
. . .
”

Nothing.

Dead air.

A rush of static and nothing.

Darius handed Bret the phone. “Lost the connection.”
He
gave a squeeze to her hand.

She look
ed at him with a concerned face,
Her lips pouting before she
spoke
. “We’ll get her
,
right? We’re gonna get her.”

Darius shifted his
eyes to his gun, then up to Bret. He winked and smiled. “I have every faith. We’ll get her.”

Colin slid the
satellite
phone slow
ly
from his ear to his chin.
His b
ack to everyone, he felt a hand touch upon his shoulder and grip
,
a
grip that could only be from Grace.

Taking a
breath,
he turned
around
.

Not a word was spoken to him but he could see it in the
ir
faces. Grace, Virginia, Luke, Perry, Casper
. . . .

A sniff, clearing of throat, Colin spoke. “We lost connection. The storm must be moving in.”

“What was the last thing that was said?” Grace asked.

“They were moving Andi.
He
was going to do what it took.”

“Even storm the detainment center?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

Grace stepped back. “
He
could
be shot.”

Calmly, matter-
of
-fact
ly
, Colin replied. “Could
,
yes.”

Luke pointed to
the
radar. “
He’s
gonna have to get her, Dr. Reye. From this, can they fly them out of there?”

Colin looked at the screen. “This storm is huge. I don’t know.”

“How long will this last?” Luke questioned further.

“
From start
to finish
. . .
a week, maybe more. It’s gonna be a while for this baby to dump all that it’s supposed to.” He looked
Virginia
. “What’s it like topside?”

“Just getting overcast. A few flurries.”

Colin drew everyone’s attention to the
images
of the st
orms. “See this
. . .
this
. . .
and this
. . . .
”
he pointed to three different systems. “These three alone will cover the continent of North America. With eyes on the east coast.
Canada
and Midwest. We’re gonna get the tail of all of them, but we should be spared
the worst
. Maybe get twenty,
twenty
-
five feet of snow.”

“Good Lord,” Grace gasped out. “If we’re getting that much, how much
will
they get?”

“More, much more,” Colin
replied
.

Virginia
interjected. “Up to four or five times more.”

Casper asked. “When will we know if they’re
okay
, if they got my sister?”

“I’ll keep trying. Every second I can, we’ll try to
get
through. But it may not be until the majority of this pas
ses. And by the looks of things
. . . .
”
Colin pointed to the screen. “That may be a while. Right now we just hope and pray.”

Fl
ash!

Cr
ash!

The light
ning was blinding and the thunder vibrated the Humvee just before it
swerved
.

“What’s going on?” Bret asked panicked.

“Wind gus
t
.” Darius answered. “We’re ok.”

Bret leaned forward. “Helicopter’s there. Please don’t let her be on that.”

“They can’t fly that, Bret. They can’t.” Darius pulled
to the facility, hitting the br
ak
e
s and sliding. “Let’s go.” He reached down for his weapon.

The light flickered just above the front door of the detainment facility, and two soldiers were posted out front
,
w
hich led Darius to believe two more plus the
Captain
was in
side.

He seemed to forget that Bret was with him
;
at least that was the way he moved
,
r
ushing
, with his weapon
under
his long
black
coat.

He
approached the soldier. “Hey
,
Gus.”

“Dr. Cobb, they’re getting her ready. Just on time. You look like the Matrix guys.”

“Yeah, that was the plan,” Darius said. “We both do.”

Gus chuckled, a younger soldier not even a sergeant yet.
“You do.”

“We’re sorry, Gus,” Darius said.

“For?”