AWOL: A Character Lost (18 page)

“No, but what we witnessed during that war allowed us to start planning for a third war; and one that we all knew would eventually happen. That day is almost here.”

“Who’s us?”

“The world, Danny, every country out there has a group just like mine. A group who communicates and works together to make sure we don’t get blind sided like we did when the Nazis were in power.”

“You mean through the Cuban Missile Crisis, The Korean and Vietnam War, The Cold War, all of that, you guys have been working together?”

“We are not involved in politics that lie on the surface, things that keep the world talking. We are deeper than that. We are the people underneath that surface. We are designed to be one unit, and to put aside all differences. We are the people who will prep the world for life after.”

Danny took all of this in for a moment. “Life after what?”

“Nuclear war, Danny, but don’t think it will be like the movies portray it to be. There won’t be one side pushing the button and then the other side doing the same. This will be a lot dirtier.”

“Dirtier.”

“You know how 9/11 unfolded and the way planes were used as weapons,” the red hair guy replied, taking another sip of coffee.

“Yes.”

“We believe or, should I say, we know that this group is planning to do something similar to the nuclear plants in this country and the ones throughout the world. When they say they have nuclear weapons they don’t mean in the traditional sense of big gigantic missiles. They plan to use suicide bombers on nuclear facilities. That’s how they are going to end this current world.”

“And you guys are going to just let them waltz in here and do it? I thought you didn’t want to get blind sided again, like with the Nazis.”

“The difference is that this time, we see it coming. That we are preparing for it as you and I sit here.” The red haired guy stopped talking for a moment. Someone was moving upstairs. “Your wife is up. We need to leave before she sees us.” The red haired guy stood up.

“What stops me from going to the news about this or my blog for that matter?”

The red haired guy looked down at Danny. “We’ve spared no expense at keeping what I told you a secret. We’ve spared no lives as well. Do you get my meaning?”

“Is that a threat?”

“Take it as what you will. We mean you and your family no harm. We need you once the world ends and a new one begins.” The red haired guy paused. Then continued, “this is important, Danny. Probably the most important thing you have ever been a part of or will ever be a part of. You need to take it seriously, because the end is coming whether you like it or not. The good news for you is that you have been given a chance. Consider yourself one of the lucky ones.”

The commode flushed, seconds later they heard steps in the hallway heading towards the stairs.

“Can I at least tell my wife?”

The TV turned on in the living room, ESPN came roaring to life, one of the shadow people doing their shadow jobs.

“Would she believe you?”

Danny thought of the old guy on the street, the one he kept seeing, and the sign he was always holding. He saw himself standing in that guy’s place as the world passed him by, just another crazy out doing his crazy thing.

Foot steps on the stairs.

The red haired guy made his exit as Danny rushed into the TV room and plopped himself into his chair. Barbara appeared a second later, the cushions in Danny’s seat were just settling when she walked into the room.

“Morning,” Barbara replied, yawning. She made her way towards the kitchen.

“Morning,” Danny replied, as he got up and followed.

“Did you make coffee?”

Danny looked at the empty coffee pot and the table. There was only one coffee cup sitting there. Somewhere in the house a door closed. Barbara didn’t notice. Then a second later a car engine came to life, again Barbara didn’t notice.

“Just a couple of cups.”

“Tired?”

“The storm woke me up.”

A storm that had since passed leaving only wet dampness in its wake and the occasional clap of distant thunder.

“I didn’t hear it. I didn’t even hear you get out of bed.”

Danny grabbed some cereal, and made a fresh pot of coffee. “You were sleeping kind of heavy.”

“I can’t believe its Monday again. The weekend goes by so fast.”

“It certainly does,” Danny replied. “I’m going to go finish Sportscenter.”

“Okay.”

Danny stopped before going into the room and looked at her.

She turned to face him. “What?” She asked, annoyed and curious mixed and mingled together.

“I love you,” Danny replied, smiling.

“Are you okay?”

“It was just a restless morning.”

“Keep an eye on the time. I know how that show distracts you.”

“Okay.”

“By the way, I love you too,” Barbara replied.

Danny smiled again, and left the room.

*

About an hour and a half later, Danny opened the garage door, and backed the car out and into the street. He stopped there a moment, window cracked just a bit to let in a fresh cool morning breeze, as sunlight permeated the world in a cloudless Carolina blue sky.

As he sat there, Danny thought that there was something off about that breeze filtering into his car through the half opened window. This breeze just didn’t feel natural. It felt like a foul wind, like a harbinger of something evil. Danny didn’t know why he was sitting here on this gorgeous day thinking this way, but he just was. He shook his head, dusting off the negative cobwebs, and then hit the button on the garage door opener. The garage door closed, as Danny turned on Tesla, cranked it up, and made his way down the road with “Modern Day Cowboy” blasting out of his speakers.

Danny arrived at the teacher’s lounge around 11:00 that morning. When he walked in, the TV that usually sat lifeless in the corner was turned on; and a majority of the staff was gathered around it.

“What’s happening?” Danny asked Barry, who wouldn’t normally be in this lounge. In fact, as Danny looked around, he saw a lot of people who didn’t normally come down to this lounge area, and all of them were focused on the TV.

“Haven’t you heard?”

“No, what?”

“Look.” Barry pointed towards the TV and the images playing on it. Danny couldn’t believe his eyes. It was an aerial shot of downtown Los Angeles, and the city was burning. “From what anyone has been able to make of it, it appears, suicide bombers unleashed themselves on the city about 6 a.m. west coast time. Reports have been coming in that as many as fifty bombs went off within the span of ten minutes. They were all coordinated, like dominos, designed to do just what you see unfolding.”

Danny heard what Barry was saying, but he never took his eyes off the screen.

To put it simply, it looked like the devil himself had come up from hell and turned its fires loose onto the city of L.A. Whole city blocks were engulfed in flames; gigantic sky scrapers had either crumbled from the blasts or were burning from the inside out. Roads had buckled from the heat, and homes and lives were being consumed by the greedy fire as it moved its way out of the city and into the suburbs. People were screaming and fleeing, cars were exploding, anything and everything that could burn was burning, even the palm trees, and the grass itself was on fire. And over all this madness, a thick dark smoke permeated everything.

The images were bad, sure enough, but something else got to Danny as he stood there watching. It was something just barely audible, coming through the speakers on the TV. It was the sound of the fire eating. You could hear it cracking and popping as it burned through everything with an insatiable appetite. It was like a billion fire termites had descended on the city of Los Angeles, and they had found a perfect place to feast. Fire trucks were out numbered; planes with water were no match, nothing could stop this fire’s relentless hunger.

“Can’t they do anything?” Danny asked, consumed with anger, and sadness. Anger at those who had done this and sadness for so many lives that were now lost and would be lost as this fire raged.

“Fire crews are racing in from all over California and the country, but by the time they get there it will be too late. L.A. is going to burn.” Danny just took a moment to take that statement in. Barry continued, “They can’t even get TV crews in there to see what is happening, and we can only get copter shots of the city because the heat of the fire is just too intense.”

“Has anyone claimed responsibility?” Danny asked, even though he knew who it was, but he just didn’t want to believe it.

“That Middle East Nuclear Arms Association has claimed full responsibility, and they say they have two more targets after this one. They are saying that today’s attack and the two to come are just a show of force, to show how powerful they are. These three attacks will be just warning shots, Danny, warning shots. That’s what they said. How’s that for your smoke signals theory?”

Danny thought of the red haired guy and all that he had been telling him. He always hoped the guy was just blowing smoke, and that the guy wasn’t right, that this nuclear scenario wasn’t going to happen; but, deep down, Danny knew that the red haired guy was legit. If he needed further proof, it was now on the TV screen. This was more than he could handle. He felt his legs buckle and his body go limp. A second later, he crumbled to the floor in a heap.

*

Danny woke up in his bed later on that afternoon with Barbara standing over him still dressed in her work attire, a pretty blue dress that showed off her shapely legs and firm bosom. He was stripped down to his boxers with the covers pulled up nice and tight to his chest. He was warm, cozy, and confused.

“Where am I?”

“You’re at home,” Barbara replied, stroking his hair, fixing the covers so they kept him covered.

“How did I get here?”

“You passed out at work. You’ve been out ever since.”

“The kids?”

“They were at school when we brought you home.”

“Who’s we?”

“Barry and I, along with a professor I have never seen before. He insisted on helping, even talked to the paramedics when they arrived. I heard him say something about you not needing the hospital. He showed them something, they check you out, and then released you. Said you could go home and rest. That you didn’t need to be at the hospital.” She paused and took a seat. “What’s going on, Danny? Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m your wife. My wifely instincts are on high alert. They know something’s up.”

“I’m not sure what I can tell you just yet.”

“Can you try? It would make me feel a lot better if I knew.”

Danny took a moment to think about it, before letting these words fall out of his mouth. “There’s something going on that I’m a part of, something that I don’t know if you will be able to handle or not.”

She touched his hand and prayed he wouldn’t answer yes to the question she was about to ask. “Are you dying?”

Danny smiled. “No. It’s more about living than anything else.”

“That’s good; at least I can cross that off my worry list.”

The bathroom door moved, and Danny’s eyes caught it. Barbara had her back to the door, so she didn’t see it. “Everything’s okay, I promise. Why don’t you go downstairs and get some rest? I’ll call if I need you.”

“Just don’t shut me out, okay?”

“I won’t,” Danny replied, as Barbara got up to leave. “How’s L.A.?” He asked, thinking about what he had heard and saw on the TV hours before.

She stopped and looked down at him. “Contained, but at least half of the city is gone, and the loss of life, property, it’s just un-imaginable. I don’t understand why people have to have so much hate.”

“I guess when you have that much hate in your heart, cruelty is the next step.”

“I guess so.”

“Come here.”

“What?”

Danny pulled her down to him and kissed her on the lips. “I love you. I promise everything will be okay. Just trust me on this.”

She nodded that she would, as soft tears rolled out of her eyes, and cascaded down her cheeks. Danny wiped them away, and kissed her again. She returned it. “Now, go get some rest, I’m fine. We’ll talk later.”

“Okay,” Barbara replied, as she got up and left the room.

The red haired guy stepped out of the bathroom once he heard the bedroom door click closed. “Nice dodge,” he replied.

“I wasn’t happy with putting her off like that. We’ve always had open communication in our marriage.”

“You could have told her.”

“Could I?”

“I know I told you that you shouldn’t spread the word, but if you trust your wife to not blab then I’m okay with that.”

“Well, as long as you’re okay with that,” Danny replied, sarcastically. “I guess I can thank you for me being home and not in the hospital.”

“With what is forthcoming, I thought for you to waste any time in a hospital bed would be futile.”

“I guess L.A. means everything you’ve told me was legit?”

“I think you knew that before you hit the floor this morning.”

“Yeah, I guess I did. The bomb wasn’t nuclear though. I thought you said it was going to be a nuclear attack.”

“The L.A. attack and the next two are warning shots. They are a show of power, nothing more. They just want the world to know how big they are.”

“Can you stop the other two?”

“Haven’t we done this dance before?”

“Yeah, guess so.”

“What we need to do, Danny. . .” A knock on the door stopped him in mid sentence.

“Who are you talking to Danny?”

The red haired guy stepped behind the bathroom door just as Barbara stepped into the room.

“Nobody,” Danny replied, smiling.

“I heard voices coming from up here.”

“It was probably the TV. I just turned it off.”

Barbara looked over at the dark box, which showed no signs of recent activity, then back to Danny.

“Promise, everything’s okay.”

She hesitated, eyes scanning the room, sure something was going on.

“Trust me Barbara, everything’s fine. Go get some rest. I promise we will talk later,” Danny replied, hoping this time she would listen and leave.