JDY Fiction - When The Time Comes

[Jerry D Young]

[SIZE=5]When The Time Comes - Prolog

[Jerry D Young]

“Hadley here is one of the leading experts on plant diseases and ways to combat them.”

Kellie looked at Hadley. “Oh?”

Looking a bit uncomfortable, Hadley began to list his qualifications. Kellie almost stopped him, but he was relaxing slightly, so she let him talk.

She started slightly when he finished up with, “And I suppose my specialty is, and will be, fungal diseases of food plants, since they have one of the greatest possible impacts on both the qualitative and the quantitative production of staple foods for the whole world. Not to mention the financial impacts.”

“Fungal diseases?” Kellie asked, just a bit tense now herself. “Rice blast?”

Hadley’s eyes widened slightly. “Why, yes. Rice blast. Soybean rust, stem rust in wheat, corn smut in maize, and late blight in potatoes Some others.

“Outside of my field, but highly important, is the role fungi play in bee colony collapse disorder. The lack of bees to pollinate crops is an issue in itself.”

“I’ve done a little research…” Kellie said.

All of Hadley’s nervousness was gone now as he launched into a highly informative presentation about the diseases. Kellie was kept busy with the camera when Hadley began to get up and show various charts, pictures, examples, samples, exhibits, and projected computer images.

When Hadley ran down, with a sudden shy, “Sorry. I get carried away, sometimes.”

“All just what I was wanting. I have a couple of questions that might seem a bit strange, but I ask you to give your best opinion… Would, in your opinion, these diseases be usable as a weapon of mass destruction? In the form of reducing the supplies of basic food staples for the US population? In causing starvation?”

Hadley didn’t look surprised. Neither did Imelda. “Very much so. It is a real fear of mine. The impacts are so far reaching… Not just the US. If the diseases were weaponized and released into the food supply, it would affect the entire world population. Billions of deaths.”

Kellie felt herself blanch and that chill go down her back again. “Did you say billions? With a B?”

Hadley nodded. “I’d say even as much as ninety percent of the earth’s population. In excess of six billion people dead, from direct and indirect effects of the diseases.”

“Indirect? Other than starvation?” Kellie asked. She hadn’t thought about that.

“Oh, yes. Perhaps the majority of deaths would be indirect effects. Widespread riots over available food supplies. Wars between nations over that same food. Border clashes as people in areas hardest hit try to get to places that still have food. Who knows. Might even trigger a nuclear confrontation.”

“Just the threat of such a thing would be a major terror weapon,” Imelda said thoughtfully. Fortunately, Hadley had taken a seat back at the desk and Imelda was in frame.

“It would, wouldn’t it?” Kellie asked, more to herself than the other two. She took a few minutes to wrap things up, obviously distracted.

“I didn’t mean to terrorize you,” Hadley said after helping Kellie get the camera and gear bags loaded into the van.

“It isn’t that…” Kellie started to say, but suddenly realized she was actually terrified. “Well, I suppose it is. Partly. I had a theory… But what you and Imelda pointed out, goes so much further.”

“Well, look. I don’t want to scare you. There are things you can do.” Hadley looked around, lowered his voice, and then leaned forward slightly to say, “I’m a prepper, you see. I prepare for such things. Not just fungal plant diseases, but nuclear war, financial collapse, violent storms, all sorts of things. If you want some information, here is my card. Has my e-mail address on it. When the time comes, I think it would help make you feel better. Maybe even make doing your job easier if you are ready.”

Kellie took the card and glanced at it. She looked up at Hadley. “Yes. Yes, I think I will.” She held out her hand and Hadley shook it firmly.



When The Time Comes – Chapter 3

“This is Kellie Manson reporting for Stringer News Network.”

“The question of what will happen in St. Louis has been answered. But not the why or whom. A death toll of two hundred thousand and growing, from poisoned water sources, is the what. The Department of Homeland Security is working on the why and whom.

“Another news conference is scheduled for tomorrow in Memphis, Tennessee, due to the newest threat as seen on the internet. We will be there to cover what we all hope will be the announcement that DHS has caught the perpetrators and there will be no more incidents.”

“You okay, Kellie?” Marcy asked when Justin signaled they were off the air.

“I didn’t look okay on air?” a suddenly more alarmed Kellie asked.

“No. You looked very good. Just the right mix of professionalism and concern for people. I mean you. You just look… different.”

Kellie forced a smile. She was tired. She hadn’t slept much the night before, after talking to Hadley and Imelda. She had stashed the video, without telling anyone about the situation.

When she’d told Marcy that she didn’t have anything they could use, Marcy had shrugged it off. “There is always a lot more video shot than is ever used. Still good that you are doing things on your own. Gives a lot more of an effect than just reading the news, even if that is all you do have to do. The trying and caring come through.”

Then the call at four that morning, when the poisoning reports started coming in. They’d all been up since then. There wasn’t a bottle of water to be found anywhere after eight o’clock in the morning. Kellie had made sure, as soon as they had word of what was going on, to get the crew to stock up before the inevitable happened.

Now on the way to Memphis, the crew all rather subdued from the savageness of the events they were covering, Kellie got on-line and sent Hadley an e-mail to make that second contact. Then she went exploring again. Looking for ways to become more prepared.

She quickly realized that she did lead a somewhat prepared lifestyle, always having some food and water in the apartment where she’d lived, and now in her jump bag, along with a change of clothes, some toiletries, make up, spare shoes, and cash.

Rather minor compared to what some people were doing, obviously, but she did already see the need and have the mindset to do more than what she was already doing.

Hadley responded to the e-mail much more quickly than Kellie expected and they soon went to a Skype connection to talk directly rather than pass e-mails back and forth.

“You’re okay, aren’t you?” Hadley asked her immediately. “Got safe water and all?”

“Yes. And you?” Kellie found she was a bit more concerned than she probably should be about Hadley.

“Oh, yes. I’ve plenty of stored water and the means to treat more. I saw you on TV. You handle yourself well on camera.”

“Thanks Hadley,” Kellie replied. She decided to get right down to business. “I’ve been doing some research on the internet about survivalists and preppers. I’d heard of survivalists, but not so much preppers. At least until that one TV show began to air. And they seemed the same. But I have a feeling you are more prepper than survivalist, according to some of my colleagues definitions.”

“You are so right,” Hadley said. Kellie could tell it was a heartfelt comment.

“I’d just as soon not get into a discussion of the difference, since you do understand already that there is a difference. I was a little worried about that.”

“Because I’m a journalist?” Kellie asked.

“Mostly, yes. And you did mention you were from the east coast…”

“Ah. True. I can see where that might bother you, with the propensity of the majority to be more than a bit liberal in their thinking.”

“Putting it mildly, but yes.”

“Well, I’ve decided to jump onto this bandwagon with both feet, without waiting for the next event in Memphis.”

“I heard that. You’re already on the way?”

“Yes. But I want to get some preliminary ideas from you about getting ready for anything that might happen.”

“Yes. Of course. Start with water. This was a good lesson on the importance of it.”

“Okay…”

They talked for almost an hour about basic prepping. On how Kellie could be as safe as possible on the road as well as at home if the events became, as they feared, long term in effect. Just before they shut down Skype, Hadley gave her the website addresses of several forums where she could learn more, as well as a list of vendors she might want to use, soon, to get some supplies in the pipeline before things became too bad.

Kellie, between doing more basic research on al-Qaeda and terrorism in general, for the next three days, had time to do a little specialty shopping on her own. She stashed the five small totes here and there in the vehicles, drawing the occasional comment. But all were joking and no one asked what she was shopping for.

Feeling a bit more prepared, Kellie hurried to the control truck when Marcy called her on the radio on the third day. Marcy was in the process of discussing what to do with home base, since nothing had been forthcoming in Memphis.

“Just got word to expect something today. Another internet warning. A bit less coherent that the others, but similar. Get Justin and yourself ready to go on at a moment’s notice. We may have to do this one on the fly.”

Kellie hurried out and found Jason to tell him what Marcy had said. As Justin equipped himself, Kellie hurriedly went to the bathroom, and then checked her appearance. She decided to change from the blouse and slacks she had on and pulled out one of the purchases she’d made that was in her locker on the bus, not in the totes.

Dressed in sturdy khaki pants, and a chambray shirt, with hiking boots on, Kellie scrubbed her face, applied just a touch of makeup, put on the new leather jacket, and then joined Justin. Her appearance brought a couple of glances, but no comments.

After double checking her jump bag and insisting Justin do the same, the two settled in to wait.

They didn’t have to wait long. Kellie was squatting down, checking the jump bag one more time when the explosion came. It knocked her sideways and she got the first of many scuff marks on the leather jacket, turning it instantly into the ‘weathered’ class.

Justin was standing, talking to Marcy. The explosion threw Marcy into him and he went down hard, with her on top of him. There were people down all over. Only a half a dozen, sitting in the vehicles, weren’t knocked down.

Hal, the medic for the group, since he was a trained paramedic, current with his licensing, as well as the chief soundman, began to quickly check on people.

Marcy climbed off Justin and helped him sit up. He groaned and turned white as a sheet for a moment. “I’m going to be sick.”

Justin rolled to his side. But he dry heaved, without expectorating anything. After a few moments, with Kellie and Marcy both now kneeling beside him, he said, “Man that hurt! Cracked my left elbow. Thought I’d broken it.”

Hal was there now and quickly checked Justin over. “Banged up, but okay. I’ll give you something mild for the pain.”

“You going to be able to handle the camera?” Marcy asked. Everyone was cross-trained in several job positions, but Justin was undoubtedly the best camera person they had.

“Let me get that stuff from Hal,” Justin said, getting to his feet slowly. “I’ll be okay. But Kellie better drive.”

“You sure, Justin?” Kellie asked. When he nodded and Hal hurried back over with a pill in a paper cup and a bottle of water, Kellie picked up the camera and ran over to the van she’d used before. There was no problem a few minutes later identifying where they needed to be. But there was a problem getting there.

Justin worked the GPS mapping system, looking for alternate routes to the site of the explosion, where a small mushroom cloud was beginning to dissipate. The thought of radiation had crossed both their minds, but the instruments in the vehicles were silent.

Kellie doubled back three times, but finally got to the edge of the devastated area. Justin had the camera ready and was out and ready when Kellie ran around the front of the van to take the microphone from him.

She surveyed the scene quickly, looked up at the sound of a helicopter. “Sure would be nice to be up there,” she thought, and then pointed out a good shot, and waited for Justin’s signal. The camera was on his shoulder and the light was on. The indicator went red and Justin made a motion with one hand. She was being recorded.

Barely two words into her intro, Justin mouthed the words, “We’re live!”

Kellie blinked, but that was the only sign she gave that she was now on a live broadcast, the transmitter on Justin’s back linking to the satellite truck, and it broadcasting to the SSN studios.



When The Time Comes – Chapter 4

“This is Kellie Manson reporting for Stringer News Network.

“There has been a tremendous explosion in the downtown area of Memphis. As you can see behind me, it was large enough to create a mushroom cloud, but there are no indications of radiation. I repeat, there are no indications of radiation at this time.

“I’m not sure what could have caused an explosion this big, but it is without doubt the event threatened to occur here several days ago by terrorists.”

Justin stepped to one side and Kellie smoothly transitioned to describing what he had the camera on. There were people frantically digging through the wreckage, looking for survivors.

“There!” she suddenly said loudly, pointing to a small group of people that were yelling and calling for help.

“It looks like they need help,” Kellie said. “Someone smaller to…” She didn’t really think about it, but tossed Justin the mike and took off running.

Justin, the pro that he was, kept the camera on Kellie, caught the mike, and began to follow her, despite the pain. It was against the unwritten rules of journalism of not getting involved, but Kellie joined right in the rescue operation, and Justin followed Kellie right up to the group.

She was already diving into the small opening in the side of a building from which screaming was coming. Everyone was covered with dust and mud, and there were already some flames from natural gas pipes that had been damaged.

Copyright 2013

[Jerry D Young]

[SIZE=5]Justin was aware peripherally of one of the helicopters coming down a lot closer to the ground.

People were frantic until first one young child, and then another came out of the hole. They were grabbed by two people each and hustled away, toward advancing sirens.

It was long moments before an elderly woman wiggled her way out of the hole and was helped to her feet. A dirty, wet Kellie came crawling out seconds before flame shot out of the hole, adding a bit more wear and tear to her jacket and pants.

This time the image that millions were seeing wavered somewhat as Justin followed Kellie at a run away from the building. But the SNN helicopter camerawoman had a steady cam shot of her and Justin.

Out of breath, Kellie finally stopped and Justin did as well. He spun around, barely in time to catch the explosion as more trapped gas from the broken natural gas lines exploded.

It was miniscule in relation to the earlier blast, but for those in the immediate area it was a warning to back off until more help could arrive and the gas lines could be isolated.

Kellie had the microphone in hand again and was describing the destruction. The rest of the crew had arrived and was now set up. Kellie waved Hal away when he approached to treat the obvious minor wounds.

She did stand still when he held up an earpiece a few moments later. He got her wired and stepped back. She was already listening to Marcy feed her information.

[Jerry D Young]

There was more jostling as people moved equipment from a couple more of the vehicles that would not now start to those that were still running, and joined their co-workers in the tight quarters.

Kellie helped to brace Justin as he continued to use the camera to get what shots he could as the convoy wove around dead vehicles and people running in the streets, going mostly the same way they were.

Twice they tried to stop and set up again, but New Orleans police waved them onward frantically. But Marcy and the lead driver were good. Another fifteen minutes and they were able to set up again. Three minutes later Kellie was back on the air.

“This is Kellie Manson reporting for Stringer News Network. We are again out of the path of the fallout and live on scene of the New Orleans nuclear attack. We have managed to get additional information from official sources.

“The device seems to have been meant primarily to disrupt the oil flow from off-shore rigs and tanker deliveries here in the port, as it did, in fact, knock out those facilities where they come from the Port waters onto land. No estimates as to when production might start again.

“Death toll estimates…” Kellie gasped, but immediately continued. “Three hundred thousand, with additional projected loss of life as high as one million…”

Kellie dodged when a New Orleans police officer tried to grab the hand mike from her. She saw Justin go down under an onslaught of three officers, the camera lens still on her until the very last.

No one had seen the group of NOPD officers approach. Only when the attack was in full swing on Justin and Kellie did the others start to fight back.

Justin was up as quickly as possible and got a very good zoom shot of Kellie being hit in the face by the gloved fist of one of the officers. She staggered, but didn’t go down. She jerked the microphone free of another’s grasp and brought it up to her bloody lips.

Half a dozen shots were fired, though no one was hit, before Marcy called her people off and agreed to vacate the area peacefully. Though the officers were shouting to turn off all cameras, people were using camera phones and everything else to record the altercation.

Kellie had taken the brunt of the attack, after Justin, as the other officers mostly just kept the rest of the news team at bay. They had seemed intent on preventing any coverage of the disaster.

Hal was in the command truck with Kellie and Justin, tending to Kellie’s injuries. Justin had fared fairly well, protecting both the camera and his left arm when he’d been taken down.

It was another twenty minutes before Marcy stopped the convoy. They were at a check point, staffed with National Guard personnel. The various media people had an area set aside for them and a Public Information Officer told them that there would be a news conference in just a few minutes.

Well practiced now, though with only half their equipment working, Marcy had the team set up and ready well before the PIO called for attention.

Kellie had waved off make up, preferring to go on camera without any concealing effects hiding the damage the police had done to her face.

She got through the nearly useless information release without a bobble, but had to wipe angry tears away when she thrust the microphone toward the PIO and asked why New Orleans Police were attacking media personnel. Justin had the camera on the PIO immediately after the shot of Kellie wiping her eyes.

“We have no evidence of such happenings,” replied the PIO. Justin just managed to catch the incredulous look on Kellie’s face when he cut back to her.

Marcy told Kellie they were getting instructions from home base and to cut it short. Kellie did so, obviously angry. She signed off and she and Justin joined Marcy as the others began to break down the equipment at Marcy’s quick indication to do so.

“Okay,” Marcy said, taking the head set off and setting it aside. “We’re lodging a formal complaint, and asking for criminal charges.”

Kellie managed to smile and relax slightly.

“You are so going to have a shiner,” Marcy said, taking a closer look at Kellie’s left eye.

“Yeah. Whatever,” Kellie said, no longer concerned with the event. SNN was dealing with it. There wasn’t much she could do but wear the signs for as long as they existed. “Anything further on the nuke attack? An announcement yet?”

Marcy shook her head. “And I guess we just have to wait. Going to try and get the rest of our equipment recovered and ready to go. Do some more coverage of the cleanup and wait for something else from the terrorists. Home base is sending down another crew. With Carla. She’ll be taking over this coverage tomorrow.”

Marcy watched Kellie carefully. She’d been asked to, specifically, but would have anyway. Kellie surprised her just slightly. But on retrospect, not that much.

“Okay. Good. She knows this stuff better than I do and can probably get some government officials to talk. I’m not in a position to do that yet.

“And I’d rather be free to cover more of the story. I don’t think this is anywhere near the end.”

“You think more than just a statement about what the terrorist want?” Justin asked. “That was my feeling from that last terrorist video.”

“I don’t know. Just a gut feeling,” Kellie said. “That could be the beginning of another stage. Like Marcy said, no way of knowing until they decide to do something else.”

“Kellie is right. And for right now, I want to do a piece on our equipment. There was an EMP, obviously, but only some of the equipment went down and other items continued to work, fortunately for us. I think we had the highest rate of working equipment. Home base instructed me to make our broadcast equipment available to the other services that need it.”

“Aw, man!” Justin said. “With that kind of exclusive?”

“They want good relations with the other networks. We could be in the same position at some point.” Marcy smiled then. “And with the number and kind of scoops I think we may be doing, we’re going to need some good will up front.”

“Good point,” Justin said. “Okay. I’m going to secure what I’ve got and then we can start on the equipment report. That okay Kellie?”

“You might want to go and get cleaned up some,” Marcy said.

Kellie shook her head. “Let’s get it while it is fresh. I’m curious, anyway. I didn’t really think anything would work after a nuke.”

“Do it up good and we’ll see if we can finagle a feature piece out of it.”

Marcy moved off and Justin and Kellie headed for one of the trucks that had secure media storage to put away what he had and get blank media and batteries.

“Something of a come down, all of a sudden,” Justin said a few minutes later, after talking to Hal about the EMP, and waiting on another of the electrical crew for her opinions.

Kellie shook her head. “There’s always something to do. This could be important information at some point, for someone. I have a couple of sources on-line that I’ll check tonight and find out what I can. If I can.”

“Okay. I’m happy if you’re happy.”

They were interrupted once, for Kellie to calm down Hadley. He’d been watching the coverage and had seen Kellie attacked by the police. He’d only just been able to get the cell phone call through.

“I’m still working, Hadley. But I’m okay. Home base is taking steps, which is confidential, by the way. Working on an EMP story. Anyone you can recommend I talk to?”

Hadley gave Kellie a couple of names and website addresses and reluctantly let her go back to work.

“You and this Hadley?” Justin asked, with a grin.

“Yeah. I don’t know. Maybe. He’s a good guy. I like him. You would, too.”

It was a tired crew that finally called it a night and found another hotel that could take them all. They had to do some doubling up, but everyone had their own bed, and most of the equipment was back on-line, with a lot of money spent to get it so.

Kellie did a short piece with Carla again, the next day, about the police attack on the news crew. Kellie hadn’t really had a chance to see the footage Justin had captured and was amazed at how intense and firm she’d been during the event. She’d been angry, and more than a little scared. The anger had showed, but the scared hadn’t.

With Carla there doing the brunt of the work of covering the nuclear attack, Marcy and her crew was ordered to take a break, see to getting the rest of the equipment repaired or replaced, and to work on the production of the EMP piece, which home base had decided to run with.

Kellie convinced Marcy that Hadley was a good information resource for the EMP and related subjects and talked her into taking the crew back to St. Louis to talk to him, and several people he managed to talk into talking to Kellie.

They took their time, to give time for Hadley to get some things set up, and just in case something broke on the terror story. There had been no new videos, not even a follow up on the stated news to come.

Most of the crew was at the hotel in St. Louis, taking it easy, with Kellie, Justin, Hal, Marcy, and a couple of other techs at Hadley’s home for an interview.

The college had denied permission for them to do anything at the school, and a couple of the people that Hadley had arranged for had refused to be anywhere public.

Justin and Hal were really getting into the subject of EMP and seemed intrigued that the two men that were supposedly experts on the subject chose to appear only in silhouette and have their voices altered or they wouldn’t talk.

It amused Marcy more than a little. She decided they just wouldn’t use any of the non-sense. She’d been a better than fair editor at one time in her career and would be in on the edit for this piece to make sure it came across professional.

She changed her mind a little when the two men, between them, produced several government documents about EMP that were not in public circulation.

It was the second day of the interview, with Hadley and the other two watching the footage that Justin and Kellie had done on their own equipment after the EMP had zapped them in New Orleans, before they gave their opinions on the whys and wherefores of what had happened.

Much to everyone’s annoyance, Marcy’s cell phone rang. But when she quickly hung up and asked Hadley if he had an internet connection, the annoyance vanished. “The ultimatum is out,” Marcy said.

With everyone gathered around, Hadley got on the internet, switched the feed to the large screen TV in his den, and found the video.

All of them watched silently until it was over.

The United States would begin to fulfill a thirty step process or ‘Allah’s Warriors’ would institute, in addition to more, similar attacks, a program to infect major basic food crops with fungal diseases. Not only in the US, but in all countries that continued to support the Great Satan.

Kellie looked over at Hadley in alarm. “You were so right,” she said softly.

Marcy’s cell phone rang again. “Yes. We’re on it.”

She put away the phone and addressed the small group. “We have to head back to New Orleans. Carla is going back to New York to cover this new threat. Where are we going to find anyone on short notice that is an expert on fungal plant diseases? We have to find out just what this means.”

Softly, Kellie said, “We have a major scoop, Marcy. Hadley is our expert. I’ve already got a lot of preliminary footage on just this possibility.”

“What? What are you talking about? That theory you had before?” Marcy asked. She studied Kellie closely, but that confident look was there, as always.

“Give me a minute,” Kellie said and ran out of the house. She was back in less than a minute with a thumb drive in her hand. She handed it to Hadley. “Play that.”

Kellie looked over at Marcy. “See what you think.”

They were barely ten minutes into the recordings when Marcy was calling out on her cell phone. She moved away and talked quietly for a good three minutes as the others continued to watch the video.

“Hadley,” Marcy said when she put the phone away, can I use your internet connection for a bit?”

“Sure,” Hadley said. “What do you want me to do?”

“Just make sure I have a good connection.” She looked over at Sally, one of the techs. “Get my computer case.”

“You’re welcome to use my computer,” Hadley said.

Marcy grinned. “Mine’s encrypted for secure comms with home base. I want them to see this.” She nodded toward the TV screen.

“Sorry guys,” Marcy said a couple of minutes later when everyone gathered around her at the desk. “This is top secret. I need to do this in private.”

Reluctantly, the others left, Hadley removing the thumb drive from his computer and handing it to Marcy.

The two men, after asking if they were needed any longer, and when told no, left. Kellie and the others heard one tell the other, “I’m calling Emergency Essentials and Canning Pantry as soon as I get home.”

The other had responded, “Yeah. Me, too. And Rainy Day Foods. Maybe Nitro-pak.”

Justin and Hal looked at Kellie and Hadley. Sally and June were over in a corner, discussing something.

Hadley realized they were wondering what the two men were talking about. “Long term food storage foods,” Hadley said. “Emergency Essentials, Rainy Day Foods, and Nitro-pak sell foods suitable for long term storage. Canning pantry sells jars and canners to put up food by home canning, along with a lot of other products.”

“That kind of sounds like it might be a good idea,” Justin said. He looked at Hal.

“Yeah,” Hal said. “Depends on how this plays out, but yeah. Wish I knew a little more about this. Gonna have to do some quick research.”

“Uh…” Hadley hesitated for a minute, but finally said, “I guess I can give you some information… Show you some of what I have.” He made a point not to look at Kellie. Sally and June moved over to join the group.

Kellie decided she might as well admit that she was in prepper mode herself. “He knows what he’s talking about. I’ve already made some purchases from those companies,” Kellie told her friends and co-workers.

“You’re a survivalist?” asked June.

Kellie shook her head. “Prepper. Just beginning. Hadley, you explain.”

Hadley dropped into lecture mode and began to show the group some of what he was prepping. It was the first time that Kellie realized just how much of a prepper he actually was.

Marcy had to come looking for them, in the basement.

“Hey! It’s a go. Hadley, you are ours, exclusively, for a while, right?”

With Kellie looking at him expectantly, Hadley quickly nodded. “Whatever I can do. Exclusively to SNN and Kellie.”

Kellie started, and so did Marcy. The other four exchanged a glance.

After a moment Marcy nodded. “Doable.”

“But Carla,” Kellie protested.

“She won’t stand in the way. I’m sure of it. You’ve got the scoop. You deserve to run with it. Now, let’s get back to the hotel and get things set up. We go live in ninety minutes.”

Copyright 2013

[Jerry D Young]

[SIZE=5][B]When The Time Comes

[Jerry D Young]

“Landed gentry?” Kellie was smiling, too.

“Something like that, yes. I seldom put all my eggs in one basket.”

“Yeah. I’m learning just how much more true that is than I did at first. There is nothing really preventing me from going. I’m going to assume that the severance package they referred will be sent to my mail drop, like the other things they have had to mail to me.”

“Mail drop, huh? You do have a few surprises of your own.”

It was Kellie’s turn to grin widely. “Yes. I do, as a matter of fact. But if we’re going to go, let’s do it. You’ve already got me a little spooked.”

Hadley nodded and stood up. “If you’ll lend a hand shutting down the place, we can be on our way to pick up your things at the hotel, and then hit the road, in just a few minutes.”

“You always ready to leave on a moment’s notice?” Kellie asked.

“Pretty much,” Hadley said, nodding. “I’ll call in to the school and activate a more or less standing leave of absence. I’ve done it a couple of times before. They don’t like it much, but they want me bad enough to agree to it.”

It took all of ten minutes for Hadley to make the call, secure the place, including closing the security shutter system that protected all the windows and doors of the house.

Kellie was waiting for him outside, with her go bag and computer case when he drove out of the garage and triggered the garage door and shutter to close.

But he wasn’t in the beat up old Subaru she’d seen him drive before. This time he was in a just as beat up old Chevy Suburban. There was a roof rack, covered with a tarp, a rear rack, also covered with a tarp, and a front rack. It too had a tarp covering whatever it was the rack carried. Only a large number of lights weren’t covered, and there were some facing forward that were.

A winch was the only thing Kellie could think of that might be on the front bumper, but hurried over to get into the front passenger seat of the vehicle after putting the bags on the passenger side rear seat, without doing the exploring she would like to do. Hadley had mentioned a BOV, or bug out vehicle, as well as a PAWV, or post-apocalyptic world vehicle. Kellie had a feeling this was probably a PAWV.

Hadley pulled over to the detached garage, triggered a remote to open the security shutters and the garage door of one of the four bays. It was the matter of a few minutes for him to hook up to a large tandem wheel box trailer, just as beat up looking as the Suburban. It, too, had a tarped load on a roof rack and a locked metal tool box on the tongue.

When the trailer was connected, Hadley triggered the remote again to close up the detached garage. Kellie watched the lights on the trailer when Hadley tested them. The two got back into the Suburban.

Kellie was surprised at the difference between the inside and outside of the vehicle. The outside had nicks and dents, not a spark of chrome, and a more or less tan and gray, not quite camouflage paint scheme, with a few primer covered points of sheet metal work, and the dirty work tarps.

The inside, on the other hand, sported pristine tan leather seats, four of them, and what wasn’t behind some type of equipment, was upholstered with button tufted light brown leather. Sides and overhead both. And the floor was some sort of rugged rubber, also a light brown.

The dash, all of it, from left to right, had something neatly inserted, mostly electronics. They were barely visible through a series of tight copper mesh panels. There was an overhead platform, also loaded with gear, and a console from between the front seats up to the middle of the dash. All of them had the same copper mesh panels.

Hadley reached up to the overhead, lifted mesh panel and pressed two switches. Kellie heard a slight whine and then two faint thumps. “Erecting two of the taller roof rack mount antennas,” Hadley told Kellie.

“Oh. I’ve never seen this much communications gear, except in the command and satellite trucks!”

“I like to keep informed,” Hadley said. “And stay in touch. If you are ready, we’ll be off.”

“I guess so,” Kellie replied. When Hadley put the Suburban in gear again, Kellie listened intently. “I know it is diesel, but I can barely hear it.”

“Great exhaust system, and the engine compartment is well insulated for sound, temperature, as well as somewhat armored.”

“Armored?” Kellie asked.

Hadley nodded. “Not substantially, but enough to get through some light rifle fire. Radiator is protected very well, and if I think there will be a likelihood to be attacked, I have some armor for the tires made of curtains of hard chain installed that I can deploy.

“The body has Kevlar armor covering the outside of the original sheet metal, and that is covered with the exterior sheet metal, over a full roll cage. Not too noticeable, but if you look close you can see that the overall dimensions are a bit larger all around than normal.

“But that thickness also helps conceal the fact that the windows are all two inch thick armor laminate, including the windshield. The front door windows open, but they swing out and up with pressure cylinder assistance, rather than roll down into the doors. Underneath the body has armor in strategic spots, too.

“We’re good up to .308 FMJ. That starts getting through. And I have wearable body armor packed in the back that will add additional protection, if we think we could be going into harms’ way.”

“Holy cow! I didn’t even know you could do that.”

“Not inexpensive, and I pay a weight penalty, but we’re as protected as we can be for a moderate investment. We can only do about a hundred ten, rather than the hundred thirty I was shooting for, and it takes some time to get to that speed, but I thought some armor was better than only speed and maneuverability.”

“I feel safer than I believe I ever have in a vehicle,” Kellie said.

“We’re vulnerable to mines and IEDs, but I consider them low probability and just didn’t want to go to a full armored vehicle.”

“Oh. Well, still safer than anything else I’ve ever been in. Hundred and ten, huh? Don’t feel compelled to prove it.”

Hadley laughed as Kellie snugged up the safety harness a little. He turned on the satellite radio when both fell silent, to listen to the news. In the time it took to get to the hotel in St. Louis they had not heard of anything of import.

But Kellie became livid again, keeping it well under control, when she found her key card wouldn’t work on the hotel room door. They went down to the front desk and asked what the problem was.

The clerk was apologetic, and said, “I’m sorry. Your company called and said to close the account and evict you. That you would have to pay on your own.”

“My things?” Kellie asked, quietly and calmly.

“I’ll have the bell captain get them,” said the clerk. “I assure you that your things were handled with the utmost respect and packed securely in your bags before they were moved.”

“Yes. Of course. My former employer always went for quality. If you will hurry, I’d like to be on my way.”

“You’re not taking another room? I assure you that…”

“I think not,” Kellie said, not bothering to mention she was leaving anyway.

Hadley had kept silent, watching Kellie work through her anger at the treatment. But she held tough and didn’t take it out on the hotel staff, even giving the bell captain a modest tip for bringing out the bags on a cart to the Suburban.

“I’ll handle the bags,” Hadley told the man. He opened split rear rack and then the Dutch door rear of the Suburban and Kellie took a good look at the construction. She could see that the total thickness of the exterior of the truck was much greater than normal.

She also got a good look at the built in boxes that lined the sides of the cargo compartment, leaving the center of the area open from the rear doors to the rear seats. There was plenty of space left after Hadley stacked her bags securely beside his.

After a stop for a fast food lunch, Hadley headed the Suburban west on I-44. Again they listened to the satellite radio as Hadley maneuvered among the heavy traffic, until well away from St. Louis. It was a normal news day and Hadley soon switched to a music station, and turned the volume down.

“Want to have something live going, in case something happens,” Hadley told Kellie. “This station has news breaks as well as the music. But we can talk. I suppose I should tell you where we are going.”

Kellie looked up from her intense study of the cockpit of the Suburban, trying to figure out just what everything was. “Yeah. I’ve been distracted, I guess. I should know something about where we’re going.”

“After we get your things in Los Angeles, we’ll head for Hulett, Wyoming. Outside, actually. My family is from there, originally. Some of the early settlers. I own a hunting lodge up in the Black Hills that I inherited when my parents died. It is run by a small staff, and has two guides under contract to take people on hunting trips.”

“I never really pictured you as a hunter,” Kellie said.

“I don’t, much. Not anymore. I did my share when I was growing up. But once I got into college and then began my career, I just never seem to have the time. Not even here in Missouri. My trips out to Robertson Lodge have all been working trips to supervise getting the place set up as more than a hunting lodge.”

“Prepping stuff? A retreat or bug out location?”

“In a sense, it is a bug out location, though that isn’t the primary function. It, like my place here, is a primary home with some aspects of an off grid homestead or estate. Places where I can live the majority of the time. The actual bug out locations aren’t anywhere like the two major places.”

Kellie nodded. “I think I understand. If you’re living there, it isn’t a bug out location. It is a home. You just happen to have two.”

“Exactly. They are the bug in locations. And the minimal places are the bug out locations.”

“You’ve done well for yourself,” Kellie said.

“I inherited much of it, I have to admit,” Hadley replied with a slight shrug. The hunting lodge property and business, which does moderately well. And I do well as a professor at the college, and have a few patents for disease control products for commercial crops that bring in extra money.

“I have some investments. Conventional as well as prep related. Rental income property including quadraplex housing units and investment in two farms, some specific stocks and mutual funds; I regularly buy and sell stock warrants, have some monetary investments in Switzerland, hold precious metals, set up two deferred annuities I’m paying into; and have a trust I’m also adding to. I’m a believer in diversification.”

“I’ll say!” Kellie laughed.

Hadley smiled over at her and added, “Plus I’m published. Two text books and quite a few magazine articles in my field. A couple of science tomes, again in my field. And there is more than enough income from the place here in Missouri to keep it going on its own. I’m doing okay.”

“I didn’t see anything that would make money at the place outside St. Louis!”

Hadley looked over and smiled. “I have experimental specialty crops I develop, for seed, for a couple of the major seed companies. Plus there is the really good fruit and nut orchard, vineyard, asparagus and berry patches that produce things for a farmers’ market. You’ve seen those.”

“Yes. I just didn’t think about them as income.”

“Enough to help pay the bills.”

“Just how old are you?” Kellie suddenly asked, a worrisome thought entering her mind.

“Think I might be too old for you? I’m thirty. Just turned. I got an early start with the inheritance, graduated early from high school and then college, and have worked in some form or another since I was thirteen.”

“I didn’t mean to sound…” Kellie said softly. “I thought you were about my age… older, yes… but what you have people in their fifties often don’t have. Thirty. That’s good.”

Hadley decided the best thing to do was leave the subject alone. If he was going to win Kellie’s heart, as well as her mind, it was going to take some time. She had a shell he could tell, anyway, and the events of the day had suddenly made it much tougher and thicker.

They fell silent, enjoying the scenery and music. Hadley had already said they weren’t going to push for minimum time, but take their time on the trip. Not a lot of sightseeing, but no five in the morning to nine at night constant runs.

It was after three when Hadley woke Kellie. She’d fallen asleep nearly an hour before. “Kellie. Kellie,” he said softly.

It took Kellie a few moments to get oriented. But she looked over at Hadley.

“Don’t really need fuel. I have plenty on board, but I like to keep the tanks topped off. And I need a bathroom break. Plus I want to decide where to stop for the night before we take off again.”

Kellie yawned, but nodded.

They were stopped for less than fifteen minutes, most of that spent using the laptop in the Suburban, with a satellite internet link, to find and book rooms for the night for about six in the evening.

“I wish I had my camping gear. We could stay out a couple of nights on the way. On the way from LA to Hulett perhaps we can do that.”

“I have all we need,” Hadley said. “Even extra sleeping bags, and two tents, plus emergency shelters. But it is going to be really cold once we get a bit north. We can, if you want, or stop a couple of times on this leg. That’ll be up to you.”

“Hm. Let me think about it. I’d really like to, but you have some good points. And I always preferred to camp out for several days, rather than just one night and move on.”

“I’m the same way,” Hadley said. “If I’m going to be out in the wilderness, I want to be there for a while. Day trips, sure, but setting up and breaking camp on a trip, unless that is the purpose of the trip, doesn’t really interest me.”

What Hadley said was the decision maker for Kellie, but she continued to think about it for a few minutes before she told him, “Let’s just forget the camping for a while. I have a feeling I’ll be able to do all I want once we get to Hulett, winter or spring.”

Hadley smiled. “You have that right. Might even be able to get an igloo camping trip in. I have an igloo building tool in my gear, so it doesn’t matter too much how much snow, or what kind of snow we get, I can still built a safe and secure one.”

“Igloo, huh? I’ve never been in one.” That started a long discussion of camping methods that consumed the time until Hadley pulled off the Interstate and they began to look for a restaurant before going to the motel where they were booked.

It went much the same the rest of the trip to Los Angeles. Kellie drove for a while several times, on the interstate sections of the trip, to get a feel for the Suburban and trailer. It was a bit difficult at first and she knew she was red as a beet more than once as she was getting the hang of the accelerator, clutch, and transmission gear shift.

But Hadley never said a discouraging or disparaging word, simply offering a little constructive advice a couple of times. He let her learn at her own pace. And soon enough she was handling the Suburban and trailer more than well enough.

They took five days and four nights for the trip and arrived rested. Their first stop for Kellie was at the mail service where her mail redirect was done.

She’d called before they left St. Louis to have them hold anything that came in while they were on the road. There wasn’t much, but what there was of importance was quite a surprise.

“Well, Kellie said, sitting in the Suburban, reading the letter that was in the packet from Stringer News Network. “Seems like there is someone at SNN that didn’t get the word I am persona non grata. Besides the standard COBRA insurance offer, which I think I will take until I get some other insurance, and the 401(k) rollover paperwork, there are three checks.

“One for three months full salary, one a very nice bonus check for the scoops, and one covering accumulated vacation and sick leave. That one isn’t much.”

“If I might make a suggestion?” Hadley asked.

Copyright 2013

[Jerry D Young]

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[Jerry D Young]

[SIZE=5]“Oh. Okay. I guess that is the plan, then.”

Hadley didn’t push the time frame. Kellie seemed to want to take a day or two to say good-byes and thank Marissa and the entire Lodge staff for, as she put it, “Putting up with me.”

But the Suburban was loaded up by noon on the second day, and the trailer attached to it. There’d been no need to put any of Kellie’s things she was taking in the trailer. There was even room left in the back of the Suburban.

Hadley still had several days on the initial request for the leave of absence, so they took it easy again going to Missouri. They were stopping in Kansas City early one evening when the hands free cell phone in the Suburban rang.

Hadley looked over at Kellie when he answered the hands-free and it was Justin. The surprise was evident in her eyes, when Kellie said, “Justin! Are you okay? I didn’t think you were supposed to be talking to me.”

“I’m not, Kellie. But don’t worry. I’m on a secure phone. And I have doubts they are monitoring anyway. Especially Hadley’s phone in the Subaru. Glad I caught you. I was just going to see if he could get a message to you.

“We’re not…” Kellie was saying, intending to tell Justin about the Suburban, but Hadley quickly shook his head. “Never mind. What message did you need to get to me?”

“Things are heating up, Kellie. I’ve been spooking the spooks a little.”

“Oh, Justin! You’ll get hurt! Or in trouble!”

“Naw. I’m being careful. I can’t do anything about it. I don’t know if you can or not, but I thought you ought to know. The piece of information I got ahold of is that DHS isn’t really trying to stop the attack. They plan to take advantage of it in some way. Let a lot of people die, protecting only those that are supporting them. A major take over in the government when the time comes.

“I don’t want to push it, so I’m going to get off this phone. I just wanted to give you a heads up. And if you do decide to do anything, if there is anything that can be done, and I’m not convinced there is, be very careful. People are going to die, one way or another.

“And Kellie, don’t trust Carla. She’s sold out to DHS.

“You should have Hadley go over prepping in more detail with you. The rest of us have been digging into it and are trying to be ready for when this thing gets really bad. Good-bye. Bye, Hadley. Take good care of her if she’ll let you. She’s worth having around during this.”

“Oh, Justin!” Kellie said, coloring slightly. But there was dead air. Justin had hung up.

Kellie looked over at Hadley. “You didn’t want me to tell him we’re not in the Subaru?”

“No. The fewer people that know about this phone the better. The phone in the Subaru is re-directed to the Suburban.”

“Oh. Clever!”

“Yeah. Expensive though. Hm.”

Hadley pulled into the hotel parking lot where they were staying the night. He stopped at the entrance and got out of the Suburban. As Kellie joined him, Hadley quietly said, “Whatever you decide, I’ve got your back on this.”

Kellie glanced at Hadley, but there was a crowd in the reception area and she didn’t want to discuss it in public.


When The Time Comes – Chapter 9

It was over a quiet dinner at one of Kansas City’s steak houses that Kellie brought it up later that evening.

“You think what I’m planning could be physically dangerous, don’t you, Hadley?”

Hadley nodded, his eyes on hers. “I do. For a variety of reasons. Not just our government, or, more accurately I’m sure, elements within our government. But also even Allah’s Warriors, if it becomes obvious you are working, not to spread the word, but how to avoid the problems if they succeed.”

Kellie paled. It was hard to tell in the softly lighted restaurant, but Hadley noticed. “I’m not trying to scare you off the project. I just want you to be aware of the dangers. And that I’ll being doing my best to prevent anything happening to you.”

Kellie nodded. “I’m not going to let it go. I can’t.”

Hadley nodded. “I fully understand.”

Kellie looked thoughtful for a moment and changed the subject when she spoke. “I wonder what Justin meant about Carla? She’s been my staunchest supporter at SNN.”

“How sure are you of that?” Hadley asked. “If you’ll note, she was the one that apologized on your behalf for airing the segment about the dangers of the fungal infestations.”

“I figure she had to do that,” Kellie said slowly. “I mean, she’s been so supportive since I first applied. There was even some talk of me becoming her prot

[Jerry D Young]

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[Jerry D Young]

[SIZE=5]Reluctantly Hadley watched her go. She was a part of him now, no matter what, and he wasn

[Jerry D Young]

Kellie and Pamela watched Hadley leave. “He’s really distracted,” Kellie told Pamela.

“He’s scared for you. And me, too, of course, but mostly for you. And just so you know, I’m with you on this all the way.”

“Thanks Pamela.” Kellie went to the computer and got back on the internet to learn what she could about the situation. Pamela monitored the surveillance systems for the estate.

Hadley did actually work in a couple of short naps between classes and lab work that day. But he headed home as soon as he could. He’d heard a lot of comments about Kellie’s report. No one at the school realized he had been part of it, though several asked if he knew anything about it, since he’d been her expert for the show that one time.

He could find no evidence of anyone doing surveillance at Kellie’s apartment.

Feeling a little better, Hadley tensed up when he drove up to the garage at the estate. There was a black Suburban parked there, with two men in suits that screamed DHS standing beside it, smoking.

“Mr. Robertson,” said one of the men, straightening up from his leaning position against their Suburban. Both men looked cold due to the blustery wind blowing. Both flashed DHS identification. “We’d like to talk to you. In confidence.”

“About what?”

The other man managed a small smile. “I suspect you know, but not in what context.” He looked around. “Can we go inside?”

“I am specifically not giving you permission to do a search without a warrant.”

“We’re not here for that, Mr. Robertson,” said the first man, Agent Harris.

“Okay. But be aware that I will defend myself against illegal actions.”

“Boy, Justin was right. This one is a tiger,” said the second agent, Mathews.

Only when they were inside did Harris pull a rather large packet of papers from his inside jacket pocket. “I think you need to see these. Get them to Manson.”

Hadley thumbed through the papers, expecting to see a list of charges or a request to come in for questioning. Instead, what he found were copies of various notes, memos, and printouts of some very interesting things.

“We’re not willing to come forward on this,” Mathews said. “But we are also not willing to let some people in the service get by with what they’ve been doing. If she thinks she can do anything about it she is free to use the information any way to take down those responsible for this.”

“You mentioned a Justin?” Hadley asked after looking at the papers a second time, more thoroughly this time.

“Manson’s former camera person. Some of those came from him. About the media involvement. He’s lucky it was the two of us assigned to check out his report. We squelched it, because some of these people play plenty rough. He’ll get himself killed if he isn’t careful. What do you think?”

Both agents looked at Hadley expectantly.

“I’ll get this to Kellie when I find her. Let her decide what to do. But one thing. I won’t be pleased if this is some kind of set up.”

“Don’t threaten us,” Mathew’s said firmly. “We’re still DHS and do not have to put up with it.”

“Yeah. Right,” Hadley said, but shut up before he really antagonized the two agents. “And there is no way you’ll back this up on camera?”

“Not a chance,” Harris said. “We have families to protect.”

Hadley waited as long as he thought Kellie could stand it before he quit watching for other agents and went down to the shelter.

“DHS?” Kellie asked, looking a little pale.

Pamela told Hadley, “They showed up about half an hour before you got here and did some looking around. But they didn’t try to get into any of the buildings or anything. Couldn’t raise you on the internet.”

“They want me for crimes or questioning?” Kellie asked after taking a quick, deep breath.

“Neither,” Hadley said. He handed her the packet of papers. “Take a look at these. You’ll have a hard time believing it. Some of it is from Justin.”

“Yeah,” Kellie said, surprising Hadley no end. “He e-mailed me this one. Said he just couldn’t let it go. Carla has been working with some DHS people to disseminate disinformation about the situation. Along with several other major media people.

“And some of this implicates high level DHS people.” Kellie looked up at Hadley. “I have to get this out, somehow, risk or no risk.”

“I know,” Hadley said. “Any thoughts on how to do that?”

“Yes, she does,” Pamela said. “Crazy ones.”

“What does Pamela mean?” Hadley asked Kellie.

“Just that I want to pull another fast one. Initially on SNN, but now on DHS, too. Just do a broadcast, with all this laid out. Oh. And I did get a lot more about the terrorists. Chicago PD made a couple of statements that I caught on the internet.

“Seems the terrorists are singing like canaries. They couldn’t get the fungi from the source they had a deal with. Died in an auto accident, just by chance. They came up with the hair-brained scheme to get it from the school after they couldn’t find any other immediate sources.”

“Ah. You’d work all that into a video report? Send it to the station and put it on the internet?” Hadley asked, hoping she would say yes.

She didn’t. “No. I’m going to do the report, like you said, with Pamela’s help. And take it to our station here in St. Louis, despite the fact that they didn’t support me on the effort. Without the media links.

“And then, I’m going to fly to SNN headquarters and offer up an exclusive follow up program for them. Only it will include the duplicity of the media with the DHS in trying to suppress the information, and in effect, allowing the country to fall to the terrorists actions.”

Hadley’s breath hissed inward through his teeth. “Crazy is right,” he said. “But it is what you are going to do, with or without my help, aren’t you?”

Kellie had tears in her eyes, but she nodded.

“Okay. Put it together. I’ll arrange for the trip to SNN headquarters. I don’t have many contacts in and around New York, but I do have a couple. I’ll try to protect you the best I can.”

“Oh, thank you, Hadley! I’m not sure I could do it without you.” She was in his arms for a long time, trying to control her emotions.

Kellie finally stepped back and met his eyes again. “We’ll get on the report. Have it ready for the station here. They can preview it if they want, and either accept it in full or reject it. The main things are the internet presentation and the one live on SNN.”

“Okay,” Hadley said. “You do what you need to, and I’ll get something set up in New York.”


When The Time Comes – Epilog

It had taken some fast, persuasive talking, a look at the evidence, and a preview of the report, before the St. Louis station would air it, with a live follow up segment with Kellie.

The SNN airing of the report turned out to be simple, despite Carla’s interference. Though Sally and June had been forced out, through Carla’s machinations, and Hal had left voluntarily, fearing for his family, Justin was still there and had been working behind the scenes, trying to set up something to expose Carla.

Justin hadn’t been successful, but he had the heads of the network receptive to seeing what Kellie had. Having seen the St. Louis report, no one bothered to ask to preview the piece after Kellie told them it was the same report. She would be doing a follow up with new information, hopefully with Carla.

That sold it to the producers. Carla was no longer the pleasant co-worker she’d appeared to be. Stiff and angry, she got herself ready for the live interview. She didn’t bother to watch the airing of the revised report, having gone over the tape of the St. Louis broadcast with a fine tooth comb, looking for anything that might link her with the DHS.

When the piece began to air, Pamela, in an out of the way office, triggered the upload of the video to the internet. It would be running parallel to the studio broadcast.

So Carla was totally unprepared when Kellie, with a smile on her face, albeit a rather shark-like one, handed her the notes and memos that did link her with the DHS program.

Carla went ballistic on air, stomped off the set and disappeared for a few minutes. Justin had clued in another of the talking heads and he was ready to take over the interview, more than happy to take Carla down.

Kellie was in the middle of explaining the timeline of the things she’d done when Carla showed up on set again, this time with a pistol in her hand.

Hadley tried, but he was too late to prevent the three shots Carla took at Kellie. The first two missed completely, but the third caught Kellie in the left shoulder and she went down off the chair, behind the anchor desk.

Studio security was right behind Hadley when he tackled Carla and got the gun away from her. Another few minutes, with New York City police just arriving, several DHS agents showed up and began to arrest people at the station.

Worried about Kellie, Hadley had gone with the ambulance to the hospital. Justin called shortly after they arrived and Kellie went into surgery, catching Hadley walking restlessly in the waiting room.

“How is she? And it looks like DHS is taking on their own. One of them said something about seeing it on the internet. There were some agents in on the scheme here in the background and they got into a battle with the good DHS guys and NYPD when the new agents tried to arrest them.”

“I won’t know for a while. But the doctor taking her in said she would be fine. He didn’t seem worried at all. She was just in a lot of pain. Man, I should have been quicker! Anyone else hurt?”

“Only two of the bad guys went down. Minor injuries. No deaths. None of the good guys. A small miracle.

“And as long as Kellie is going to be all right, Hadley, that’s the main thing. She, with your help, has prevented a disaster that had the potential of killing literally billions of people.”

“Yeah. It was Kellie all the way,” Hadley said softly. He put away the phone when Justin was called away at the studio for something.

As soon as the doctor let Hadley in to see Kellie after her recovery from the minor surgery, he was at her bedside, apologizing profusely.

“Oh, Hadley! It played out all right. We won, didn’t we?”

“Yes. We… You won. DHS looks like they are going to clean house, and some news networks have already started internal investigations.

“A lot of people in Washington D. C. aren’t talking much, but don’t look too happy about things. But for the moment, this particular crisis, as bad as it is, seems to be contained.”

Kellie smiled, sighed, closed her eyes, and relaxed. After a few moments, her right hand still in both of Hadley’s, she opened her eyes and looked at Hadley. “You remember a couple of our conversations? I think that the time, when times comes, is here. Give me your pitch so I can say yes, and we can start making wedding and prep plans.”

Hadley’s eyes widened, but he recovered quickly. He bent down, gave Kellie a deep kiss and then went down on one knee. The time had definitely come.

End ********

Copyright 2013
Jerry D Young

[barfife]

Jerry,
Another very good read. Thanks so much for your sharing it with us.