The Announcement – Part II

Vince and his driver have arrived at the hospital and at this time under heavy guard by hospital security, D.C. Police, and Capitol Police.  All media personnel that has arrived at the hospital for the story are all staged in another section of the hospital away from patients and most hospital staff.  As Vince begins to slowly wake up from his sleep the first thing he notices that he sees lights on the ceiling and squints his eyes to gain his focus.  Once he regained his focus he started to look around the hospital room and saw a few doctors and some guys in suits.  He went to push himself up further on the bed and grimiced in pain and grabbed his wrist.

VINCE BLACK: What’s going on?  Did I fall asleep?

DOCTOR #1: Do you remember anything that happened and why you are here?

VINCE BLACK: I remember a few guys came and rushed our truck and Derrick and I, that my driver, were trying to fight them off.  By the way where is Derrick?

DOCTOR #1: I’m sorry to inform you, but he didn’t make it today.  The gunshot wound he received damaged one of his main organs.  He practically bleed to death in the operation room.

VINCE BLACK: I remember going by his side when I saw he was down.  The next thing I know is that I am here in the hospital bed.

DOCTOR #1: When you came to the hospital with your driver you started to receive painful headaches and at one point when you was being seen you passed out.  We attended to you and you started to have a seizure.  That was all about a couple of hours ago.  We started you on some medication for the head injury you received, drew some blood, and now just waiting on your results.

VINCE BLACK: Oh…..well, umm……….then who are these guys in the suits?  They sure don’t look like doctors.

DOCTOR #2: These men are with the F.B.I. and D.C. Police.  Capitol Police right now are under orders to watch your room and to make sure you stay safe.

VINCE BLACK: Do they think someone will come and try to kill me?  I’m just a Senator and really don’t hold any value.

DETECTIVE #1: That’s not exactly true Senator.  Since the word got out that you might be running for the presidency in the near future your safety is now a top priority.

VINCE BLACK: You are?

DETECTIVE #1: I’m sorry, where are my manners?  I’m Detective Brown with the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

DETECTIVE #2: I’m Detective Black with the D.C. Metropolitan Police.  We are assisting in the investigation of the assualt and murder of Derrick Thomas.

VINCE BLACK: I would think Secret Service would be involved, but since I haven’t officially put in my bid for President of the United States they are on stand-by.  What do you need from me?

DET. BLACK: Well, first off do you know anyone that would be wanting to harm you in anyway?

VINCE BLACK: No I can’t think of anyone that would want to do that. (Then he thinks about the lady that keeps following him around and the one who appeared in his office.  He is reluctant to say something because he wants to find out who she is himself.)  I haven’t done anything to anyone.

DET. BROWN: Whoever it was seemed to know who you are, and wanted the documents that were in your briefcase.  Do you remember what was in your briefcase?

VINCE BLACK: Fuck!  I forgot about my briefcase being stolen.  Inside was alot of confidential papers pertaining to national security.  Nothing in the briefcase is to harm the U.S. in anyway, but whoever has it has alot of information on our enemies.

DET. BROWN: Who is this mysterious woman you know?

VINCE BLACK: What mysterious woman?

DET. BROWN: You went to speak to the Police Chief over at Capitol Police Headquarters the other day about police protection.  When we spoke to him about that he stated that you brought in some pictures to show him.  Do you know where those pictures are and how come you didn’t mention the woman?

VINCE BLACK: Alright, the pictures are in the briefcase as well or maybe at home.  I just remember I had them on me, but not sure where they could be right now.  I didn’t mention the mysterious woman because I want to find her myself and see what she is up to.  She just began to invade my life and making calls to my house scaring my daughters.  Then the pictures pop up out of nowhere and now I’m in the hospital.

DET. BLACK: That doesn’t make any sense of why she would go through all that trouble to harm you when she was in your office last week.

VINCE BLACK: How do you know she was in my office?  I didn’t mention that just now.

DET. BROWN: Your secretary named Amanda.  Before we questionned her about your itinerary and what she knows she was kind of ‘occupied’ with one of your co-workers.  I’ll just leave it at that.

VINCE BLACK: Yeah, she was in my office, but she didn’t say a word.  I don’t know how she got in and Amanda didn’t know who she was and what I was talking about.

DET. BROWN: Okay, well that’s all for now Senator.  You get well and we maybe talking to you later.

DOCTOR #1: Get some rest Senator.  As soon as we know about your results we will let you know and go from there.

All parties left the bedroom and closed the door behind themselves.  The detectives were outside speaking to the doctors and to each other comparing notes.  They left the hospital to continue their investigation on this homicide.  Vince lays his head back and grabs the remote control to turn on the teleivsion.  The first thing he sees is the media coverage of his carjacking and the murder of his driver.  He immediately felt for the family members of his driver and wished that he could be with them now to offer his sympathy.

Later in the day Congressman Nicholson arrives at the hospital with Amanda to visit Vince.  Once they were cleared to enter the room and visit him Amanda walked over to Vince and gave him a big hug.  Nicholson shook his hand and smiled.

CONGRESSMAN NICHOLSON: How are you feeling?

VINCE BLACK: I’m feeling a little better.  You heard about Derrick?

SECRETARY AMANDA: Yeah.  We all heard about what happen almost immediately afterwards.  Do you know who may have done it?

VINCE BLACK: No, they may seem to think that it was that mysterious woman who showed up at my office the other day.

CONGRESSMAN NICHOLSON: Mysterious woman?  What are you talking about?

VINCE BLACK: Oh, I thought I may have mentioned it or maybe Amanda would have said something to you.  One day last week I had a woman in my office the night that Yemen national tried to run through the perimeter.  No one knows how she got in and who she was.  She’s been calling my house and sending my pictures of me and my family.

CONGRESSMAN NICHOLSON: Oh really?  Seems like to me you have a ‘Secret Admirer’.  Not in the sense that we all know of it.

SECRETARY AMANDA: Excuse me guys I have to make a call.

She walks out of the room and down a couple of halls near and entrance door to the waiting room.  She picks up her cellphone and calls Elizabeth to inform her of what is happening.

ELIZABETH: Amanda?

SECRETARY AMANDA: What is going on?

ELIZABETH: What are you referring to?

SECRETARY AMANDA: Senator Black is in the hospital because some people tried to harm him and stole his briefcase.  His driver was killed in the process.

ELIZABETH: So you seem to think that I have something to do with it?

SECRETARY AMANDA: Well, you have been trailing him and sending him pictures.  Who else would want to harm him?

ELIZABETH: Lets get one thing straight.  I am not trying to harm Senator Black in any sense of the word.  Second, there is a group out there that has been trying to gain information on what the government knows about them.  Their intelligence told them that Senator Black is on the committee that gains international intelligence for the president.

SECRETARY AMANDA: So your telling me that we have a terrorists group attempting to gain access inside the government?

ELIZABETH: That’s what we believe their intentions are.  A probe into the security measures was done when the Yemen National attempted to gain access by ramming the barriers.  They have been interrogating him for days now and he’s not giving up any information.

SECRETARY AMANDA: Who is this group?

ELIZABETH: The International Freedom Alliance.  A group of mixed terrorists organizations from around the world foreign and domestic who’s views are to become independent from all national governments.  I don’t know too much about them, but there is alot of information on them that the government has.  I recommend you be careful and watch your back.  If they got to him they could very much come after whoever is working with him or who may possible have additional information than what they have gathered.  Senator Black is lucky to be alive because political figures they don’t let live. (Hangs up.)

SECRETARY AMANDA: Leans her head back up against the wall behind her and sighs heavily.  She shows worry on her face as if she is now more aware of what is going on and that her life maybe in jeopardy.  She hangs up the phone and goes back into the room to meet up with Nicholson and Black.

LOCATION: Central Maryland

As Tommy and Sandra run through the woods, the soldiers from the base they were at are in pursuit.  It has been broadcasted over the radio to all soldiers involved in the chase of the two teens that they are wanted for the murder of the colonel.  Tommy knows in the back of his mind that there will be no reason with them and explain his side of the story and say that it was in self-defense.  All they will see is that two young people who fled the scene after shooting their colonel are criminals.

SANDRA: Tommy! where are we going?!

TOMMY: I’m not sure of where we are going.  I do know one thing though, that if we stop or get caught we are dead as the rest of the people who died in this unknown world.

SANDRA: My feet are bleeding from running through the woods.  I don’t know how much more I can run on, Tommy.

He stops and looks down at her feet and sees that they are both covered in blood.  He forgot that quick as they were getting away that she had no shoes on and that they drugged her out of bed and didn’t get a chance to put on shoes let alone clothes.  So he stopped and thought quickly to himself and decided to put the rifle down for a quick minute and assist her on his back.  Sandra climbs on his back and wraps her arms around his neck, but careful not to choke him.  They both take a gasp of air inward when they heard the soldiers running in the woods yelling at each other coming there way.  Tommy picks up the rifle and continues to run on, but picked up the pace breaking tree branches on the ground and from the trees at eye level.  Sandra has her head facing downward towards his shoulders so she doesn’t get hit in the face by any branches flinging back towards her as he clears the path for them.

Tommy sees a clear ahead about 100 yards ahead and continues on using the clearance as his motivation.  He can still here the soldiers behind him, but has no clue how close or far away they are from the.  The only thing he knows is that he needs to continue and find a safe place to hide until they are in the clear.  He hits the clearance of the open field and sees nothing, but another set of trees that make up the woods about another 150 yards away straight ahead.  He looks back and can still hear them and looks ahead and starts to run as fast as he can towards the trees up ahead.  One soldier comes out of the woods behind them and looks around and sees the two teens almost halfway across the field.  He sets up by kneeling down on one knee and aiming for the shot.  Two more soldiers come out of the woods and encourages the one soldier to take the shot.

The soldier gets his breathing correct and has his aim set-up and takes the shot at the teens.  The round travles about 75 yards towards Tommy and hits his cargo pocket on his right let, but the power of the bullet hitting his cargo pocket sent him and Sandra falling to the ground.  For a brief moment Tommy thought he was hit, but looked down and saw no blood, but felt a little bit of pain.  He then felt an object in his cargo pocket and reached down inside and pulled out a olive green book about 4×6 inches.  He checked on Sandra to see if she was okay and she replied, but was now bleeding from the forehead.  He wasn’t aware that she hit her head on a rock going down causing the bleeding.

The terrain they were running across is hilly and has mounds of dirt and old parts of all kinds.  Where they fell down was near a mound  of old rubber tires, scrap metal, and random dirt and sand.  They quickly took cover behind the mound as the soldiers celebrated and slowly approached the area where the teens likely fell.  Tommy checks his magazine in his rifle and see he only has some shots, but not sure of how much.  He glipses over the mound and can see the soldiers slowly creeping towards their position, but cautious since the terrain is also grassy and about four feet in height.  He looks down at the book and sees the bullet hole from the binder to the front of the book going through the pages.

He looks at the cover and sees “NWO” and looks down at the bottom of the cover and sees what the initials stand for.  He shows Sandra, but she’s barely paying attention to what is going on.  He was able to get her attention for a quick minute and she saw the same thing on the cover.  At the bottom of the cover it said “New White Order” and they both were able to figure out the basic information they have discovered.  They both look at each other in amazement and wonder to each other what would have happened if they didn’t escape, but that makes Tommy’s observations more credible.  He peeps over the mound and sees one soldier about ten yards away and he drops back down.

Tommy looks at Sandra and tells her to stay down and stay quite.  He knew about the time he stands back up the soldier will be right on top of them.  The soldier sees the mound and slowly creeps around he corner and is shot quickly in the face by Tommy.  All the other soldiers drop to the ground and engage the mound immensly by pounding the mound with rounds and rounds and a few hand grenades were thrown, but none made it over on the other side of the mound.  Tommy drops down for cover as he hears the rounds going by them and hitting the pile of rubble their behind.  Sandra covering her ears in the fetal position yelling at Tommy “WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO DO?!”

Tommy remembering from the war games him and father used to play knew that some would have to reload at some point.  He waited just at the moment when the shooting slowed down and jumped up firing back at the soldiers.  He got lucky with a few shots he fired as they struck two soldiers in the head, but not killing them.  He motions to Sandra to run towards the woods they were heading to before they got hit.  She looks at him shaking her head no as she doesn’t want to leave him.  He explains to her that he will cover as she runs.  After a few minutes of convincing she takes off running in her bloody feet as fast as she can towards the woods.  She gets about 20 yards from Tommy and the rounds are hitting all around her every step she takes.  Tommy stands up again and takes aim and fire back hitting no one, but was enough to have some duck behind cover and hit the ground.

Tommy looks back to see Sandra and see tha she just made it to the woods.  He looks up in the sky giving a quick prayer to the Lord above for his safe arrival to Sandra.  He jumps up and fires off the remaining of his rounds and once the rifle clicked out of rounds and he saw that it was dry he threw it down and sprinted towards Sandra.  She watches him running towards the woods at a full sprint and she starts to cheer him on encouraging his efforts.  She yells to him to hurry up and rounds are hitting the ground around him as well.  Just a few yards away from the woods he heard helicopters above him.  He went diving into the woods and crawled towards Sandra as she embraces him with a tight hug.

They look and see a helicopter raising from above the soldiers chasing them and the helicopter above them at about tree level.  Suddenly both helicopters began firing at each other while the soldiers on the ground are ducking for cover from the enemy chopper.  Some soldiers were killed by the chopper hovering at tree level above Tommy and Sandra.  Tommy looked closely at the chopper above them and saw “U.S. ARMY” on the rear wing, but since they have been fooled once before he wasnt sure if they were back guys or what.  They continued to watch the firefight going on in the open field and some soldiers retreating and being gunned down.  The NWO helicopter continued to fire upon the enemy chopper, but even though it was being hit it didn’t loose it’s height in the sky and didn’t move at all.  The chopper fired a rocket at the NWO chopper and it was a direct hit.  The NWO helicopter fell to the ground below in a fireball and exploded even more once it hit the ground.

They both look in amazement and watch the soldiers retreat for their lives and the helicopter burn.  The U.S. ARMY helicopter flew a few yards forward and landed and a several troops jumped out of the helicopter.  They all ran towards the direction of the burning helicopter to check on the bodies and to see who they were engaging.  Tommy saw military style uniforms on them, but didn’t dare to show himself as they were fooled before and grabbed Sandra by the hand.  She looked at him and looked at him as if he was crazy, but she went with him after a few tugs of her arm to come.  They proceed down a very steep him and saw another opening ahead, but this time he saw a road.  He carefully approached the road and looked both ways and saw no vehicles and heard no one on the road.

SANDRA: Tommy, who is gonna help us if we don’t trust anyone and continue to run? Run where? Where are we going?

TOMMY: He looks at her as if he was asking himself that same question.  I don’t know Sandra.  I just want to keep running, but don’t know where to go.

SANDRA: Exactly.  We need to find someone to help us, give me medical treatment, and maybe we can find out what is going on.  Please, Tommy lets just follow this road and see where it goes.

TOMMY: No police, only military or military style groups running around?  What is this new world we live in now?  Okay lets follow the road and see if we can find someone official.

She agrees and they began to make a slow walk down the road towards the sunset.  Eventually Sandra ends back on Tommy’s back and they continue down the road for several miles until they approach a gate house that has fences  going into the woods and only one way in and one way out.  As they approach the gate Tommy sees no one inside, but realizes that the windows are tinted and he can’t see if anyone is inside.  About this time it is late afternoon and the sun is setting quickly so they continue to approach the gate slowly then suddenly a uniformed guard jumps out with his weapon drawn and pointed at them to freeze.  They stop immediately in their tracks as the guard approaches them with his weapon at them.  Then another one comes out of the booth with a M-16 slung and at the ready.

The guard orders them to the ground and to get face down.  Once Sandra got off of Tommy’s back they complied with the demands of the guard and went faced down.  Both guards approached them and placed handcuffs on them and called in on the radio for assistance.  Both Tommy and Sandra did not fight or open their mouths to say anything to them unless asked a question.  They looked at each other and heard a truck coming down the road from behind the gatehouse.  Once it stopped at the gatehouse about three troops jumped out and Tommy could see the American flag on their uniform and some type of unit patch on the other shoulder.  They were ordered to the back of the truck and as they passed the driver side of the truck Tommy could see that the soldier in the driver side having a big “MP” on the side of his uniform.

Tommy made eye contact with both MP’s in the truck as he passed and got in the rear of the truck.  They were helped up into the truck and taken away down the road towards another unknown location.  As they approached the main part of the base they saw the helicopter that was once above them firing at the militia group that was chasing them.  The helicopter was just landing and they saw other Army soldiers running around on base in full uniform.  Tommy and Sandra looked at each other and looked at the soldiers watching guard over them and mouthed at each other a phrase that no one could hear being said.

NEXT PUBLICATION:  Mid-November 2009

THE ANNOUNCEMENT

The following morning after receiving an envelope with random pictures in it, Vince begins to make noise that he will put in his candidancy for president.  Of course, the news media gets a hold of it, but not alot of people take it seriously because past Independent Party members who ran for President of the United States came nowhere close to winning.  With only five Independent Party members serving in the entire U.S. Government he is almost gauranteed to gain nomination from his party to pursue this course.  Before Vince could even come into the U.S. Capitol he was approached by a few news crew and had a brief interview with them on the steps.  He answered their question and asked them how did they find out and of course, their reply was that they had a source on the inside who spilled the story.

Right now most of the attention is on the Republican Party member, Alexander Johnson, and Democratic Party member, Greg West who both have been heavily involved in the national security threat to the U.S. and other sensitive issues.  Alexander Johnson, a Senator from Michigan, has been in the Senate for approximately 8 years and heavily supports the right for a woman to choose, against gay marriages, and supports a national defense system from nuclear threat nations.  Greg West, a Senator from the great state of Georgia has been in the Senate for at least 10 years and heavily supports the right to gay marriages, against the Iraq War, supports pro-life, and pro-law enforcement.

The American people knows about Senator West and Senator Johnson, but very few know about Senator Black from Minnesota.  They mostly know him due to the debate about sending troops overseas into Iraq, since he had the most powerful agrument against sending troops into a country with unreliable intelligence that propelled his image a little bit.  Senator Black is popular amongst his party members and knows a few state governors personally and even helped some of them gain recognition to with thier state’s office.  Now he is going to take a new step towards becoming successful in his political career.  He has always gained nothing but encouragement from grandma and parents to succeed the best way you can.  Now he is about to fulfill a goal that was once a foriegn concept in his mind to it being an interesting prestige.

All morning Vince Black was questioned by other democrats and republicans to see if he is sure that he wants to do this.  If he didn’t know any better he would think that others around congress, with exception to a few, give him no chance to even win the nomination let alone the presidency.  By lunch time he was kind of exhausted and ventured out alone to lunch this day, which was unusual and knowing that he is running for the presidency you would think he would be concerned about his safety today.  For some reason he wasn’t scared or nervous that someone may recognize him and attempt to take his life, but he knew the concerns.  Fortunately, he ventured out to lunch not facing much questions at all from bystanders, customers, and citizens.  He was very happy about that as he went back to the office to finish up his announcement for president.

SECRETARY AMANDA: Oh, Senator Black I have a message here from Congressman Nicholson.

VINCE BLACK: Thank you.  Ummm….I want to apologize for the other day for yelling at you about that envelope.  I was completely out of line and you didn’t deserve that.

SECRETARY AMANDA: Oh, that’s okay Senator.  I probably would have reacted the same way too if that was me.

VINCE BLACK: Glad you accept my apology.  I’ll be in my office if any needs me. (They both smile at each other and he walks into his office.)

He sits down in his chair and takes a few sips of his coffee, French Vanilla.  He puts the cup down and begins to read the message from his friend Nicholson.  Once he read the message he put the paper down and called Nicholson at his office, but he didn’t get an answer.  He then attempted to call him on his cellphone, but still no answer from either phone.  He sat there and wondered where he is, but thought to himself to come back to that later.  Vince leaned back in the chair and started to plan who he would like to have on his campaign staff.  Knowing that his chances are slim to none, according to the rest congress, he needs a team that can  be strong and aggressive.  He pulls out a pen out of his suit jacket pocket and writes a few names down that he could use for his assistance to win the White House.

With only a few more months before the official campaign begins he knows he doesn’t have alot of time to waste.  Vince looks at his watch and sees that it is nearly 3pm in the afternoon and decides to go home early.  He calls out to his driver on his cellphone and lets him know that he is leaving around 3:30pm.  His driver acknowledges and starts to the U.S. Capitol to meet his boss at one of the entrances/exit points.  Vince starts heading out the door and out of the office and comes across Amanda once again.

VINCE BLACK: Hey Amanda, I will be leaving now for the day so if anyone asks just let them know.

SECRETARY AMANDA: Okay, sir.

VINCE BLACK: You’re doing a good job here.  Keep it up.

SECRETARY AMANDA: Well, thank you Senator.  I’m glad to make you proud.

He heads out the door and she watches him go out of the door and sits back at her desk.  She waits a few minutes and walks out of the office into the hallway and looks both ways for Vince.  Once she figures the coast is clear she walks towards the female restroom down the hall.  Once inside the restroom she made sure it was clear and pulled out her cellphone.  She sends a text to Elizabeth that he is gone for the day and whatever she needs out of his office now is the time.  Amanda gets a little nervous and catches a glimpse of herself in the mirrow above the sink.  She stares at herself for a moment as if she is having a hard time recognizing herself.  Then she feels the phone vibrate in her hand and she looks down and sees that a text message was sent back.  The text message was from Elizabeth stating that we are laying low for the time being until his official announcement for the running of the president.

Amanda looks at the texting acting kind of surprise to what she sees.  She sighs real heavily and heads back to the office and just before she enters the office she sees Congressman Nicholson coming down the hallway.  She turns around leans up against the door as if she is wanting him to take her body and mind right there in the hallway.  As he gets closer to her she opens the door and goes in and he is quickly behind her and he closes the door and locks it.  He pins her up against the bookshelf across from the door and has a hold of her arms by the biceps.  Both are breathing heavily and looking at each other in the eyes and glancing at each others lips.  They begin to kiss and exchange tongue affairs as they get more aggressive with each other and his hands move up and down her body.  She pushes him away and walks into Vince’s office and with Nicholson following undoing his tie and unbuttoning his dress shirt.

She kicks off her high heals and undoes her dress from the shoulders down and is standing there about 10 feet away from him in tan stockings and white bra and panties.  He smiles big and starts to undo his belt and walk closer to her at the same time and then close Vince’s door behind him.  They lock lips again and exchange tongue affairs as he picks her up and places her on Vince’s desk carefully not to destroy anything to give away their behavoir.

Vince gets in the truck and begins to head home and he starts to fantasize about seing his daughters.  As they leave D.C. his driver comes to a red light and suddenly the rear window smashes out and they both duck to the sound of break glass.  Then the rear passenger side glass breaks shattering tiny broken pieces all over Vince’s face cutting him.  The driver side door opens and the driver jumps out to protect his Senator and sees a man standing in front of the vehicle with a crowbar in his hand.  Vince at this time is fighting another guy who is dressed in all black and wearing a ski mask.  The man has a hold of Vince’s suit jacket attempting to pull him out of the vehicle, but Vince kicks him in the chest sending him flying backwards.

Vince looks to the front through the windshielf and sees his driver fighting the person who was in front of the vehicle.  Innocent bystanders are all watching this in horror and some are screaming at the violent scene they are watching.  Vince jumps out and gets attacked by the guy he kicked off from behind and taken to the ground.  Vince fights him off and flipped him to the ground and as soon as he stands up he gets a foot to the groin from the downed man.  He bends over and falls to the ground holding himself in pain.  Meanwhile his driver is fighting the man with the crowbar and was able to defend himself and knock the crowbar out of his hand.  Then shots rang out and everyone went ducking for cover.

The truck sped off screeching tires and leaving both Vince and his driver on the ground.  Vince attempts to gain his senses together as people finally decide to come to his aide and to see if he needs medical attention.  He looks around in the midst of people rushing to them and sees his driver laying on the ground on his stomach.  He runs over to him as others are attempting to revive him and Vince sees blood on the ground and knows that his driver was shot.  Vince looks around and then hears police sirens in the area coming to their rescue, which is too late.  Vince then realizes that the briefcase he carries everyday was in the truck and it contained the committe papers on national security.

“BLACK SHEEP”

A phone conversation:

ELIZABETH: Mr. Hawkins?

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON”: Yes?

ELIZABETH: This is Elizabeth checking in.

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON”: Elizabeth? I’m glad to hear from you. It’s been a long time since I heard from you. How are things rolling?

ELIZABETH: So far so good. Senator Black is still trying to figure out who I am exactly. I called his daughter so he is aware of my presence at least.

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON”: Good. He’s probably still trying to figure out how you got into his office last week. Just make sure the secretary doesn’t give anything away. Since the first phase is completed now we need to figure out how we can get closer to him.

ELIZABETH: What do you propose?

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON”: I think we need to alert him of our presence even more.  We will wait until he announces his official running for president then we go forward.  Just lay low for a while, but keep an eye on him in case you are needed.

ELIZABETH: Yes, Mr. Hawkins.  I’ll stay in touch.

Once the conversation ended with Elizabeth he smiles at himself and thinks to that things are going well.  Then his best friend and assistant walks into his office/den where he is sitting behind his desk made out of cherry wood.

MICHAEL: Mr. Hawkins, the gardeners have finished the garden and awaiting your approval.

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON”: Good I shall be out there in a few minutes.  I heard from Elizabeth just a few moments ago.

MICHAEL: Oh, how is she doing?

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON”: She’s doing quite well actually and she has made her presence known to the Senator.  Now we just sit and wait for his official candidancy for president.  Well, lets go look at this garden and then we can proceed with the rest of the day.

Vince enters his office after meeting with some congressman down the hall and is pretty much on track for announcing his candidancy for presiden of the United States.  Once he sits down in his chair he turns on the television that is adjacent to his desk placed up on the wall, a flat screen worth $2500.  About a few minutes into president’s speech at the University of New York Vince hears a knock at his office door.  He yells, “Come in!”, but no one opens the door and he says it again.  He sighs and puts the remote down and gets up to open the door and sees a manila envelope with his name on the front and the word “PRIORITY” underneath his name.

He picks it up and looks at it and also doesn’t see his secretary anywhere near her desk.  He closes his office door and wonders what is in the envelope and opens it slowly as he is trying to think of what it is.  Once he pulls open the adhesive flap he peeps inside and sees that it’s pictures.  He tilts the envelope to slide the pictures out and he is shocked at what he sees.  He drops the envelope and stares at the pictures and his emotions immediately begin to raise to explosion.  He storms out of the office with the envelope in his hand along with the pictures.  As soon as he swings the door open he sees Amanda at the bookshelf reorganizing the items.  He comes up behind her and she turns around in shock of how fast he came up on her.

SECRETARY AMANDA: Whoa.  What’s the problem?

VINCE BLACK: Do you remember seeing this envelope?

SECRETARY AMANDA: No I don’t remember it.  Where did it come from?

VINCE BLACK: Do you know where it came from or who delivered it?

SECRETARY AMANDA: I don’t know w…………………

VINCE BLACK: These are pictures that were left in front of my door just a few moments ago.  Besides, where were you?

SECRETARY AMANDA: I was in the bathroom.  You know it’s that time of the month.  Not like you need details.  Besides I would like to know what is going on?

VINCE BLACK: I would like to know that too.  Right now if anyone calls for me take a message.  I’m on my way to First Street to speak about protection.

He storms out in a angry pace out of the office and calls for his driver to meet him out front.  Amanda watches him go down the hallway as she holds both of her hands together and waits until he disappears around the corner.  She then goes into the office to her desk and picks up the phone.  She calls Elizabeth.

SECRETARY AMANDA: Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH: Yes, Amanda? (She can hear the nervousness in her voice.)  What’s the problem?

SECRETARY AMANDA: Vince just left to go speak to someone about getting protection for him and his family probably.

ELIZABETH: You know this because?

SECRETARY AMANDA: An envelope came to his office and apparently it had pictures in it, but he didn’t show them to me.  He just seemed very angry and upset.

ELIZABETH: I sent the envelope with the pictures in it.  Those pictures contain photos of him and his father at lunch and his two daughters.  That’s why he is acting the way he is.

SECRETARY AMANDA: Don’t you think that information would have been good for me to know?  I like to know what is going on, not to mention I am already nervous and trying to act like I am clueless.  Can you do that for me?  Let me know if I am going to be facing questions or getting my head bit off?

ELIZABETH: You know you are right.  I’m sorry for that unexpected situation.  Your doing fine and keep doing what you’ve been doing.  The less you know, of course, it is easier for you to play clueless and dumb.  I will inform my boss of what is going on and I shall keep in touch with you.

Almost immediately after she spoke to Amanda she immediately sent Mr. Hawkins a text message.

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON”: Hmm?

MICHAEL: What is it?

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON”: I just received a text message from Elizabeth about Senator Black going to ask for police protection.  I suppose he saw the pictures of him and his father and daughter.

MICHAEL: Can that cause complications in our plan?

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON”: Only if we let this speed bump cause us problems.  What we will have to do is contact someone who specializes in this stuff.  Right now we are staying low unti he officially announces his candidancy for president.

MICHAEL: After seeing those pictures do you think he will still pursue?

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON”: I sure do think he will.

Vince arrives at the police station to speak to the chief of police.  He is seen by the chief of police almost immediately.

CHIEF OF POLICE: What do I owe this meeting with you?

VINCE BLACK: I will get down to it.  I want police protection and willing to pay for it.

CHIEF OF POLICE: What?  I thought you had a driver who has dignitary protection experience?  All he needs is a license to carry and there you go.

VINCE BLACK: Yeah, but that takes time and there is no gaurantee that he will be approved for a gun.  So it is easier for you to protect me until that happens.

CHIEF OF POLICE: Even if I wanted to give you police protection it has to be approved by your colleagues.  That’s resources and money be spent elsewhere.  Your speaking permanent or temporary?

VINCE BLACK: I’m not sure.

CHIEF OF POLICE: Well, how about tell me why you need police protection?  Besides if you run for president you won’t need us anyway.  You’ll be under the protection of the Secret Service instead of the Capitol Police.

VINCE BLACK: (He shows the pictures to the chief.)  Along with the those pictures I have gotten a call from a woman who also somehow got into my office.  Those pictures just came today and if she has my number then they know where I live.  That’s why.

CHIEF OF POLICE: Well, I can see how you would be concerned, but if no threat was given and nothing to show me that this person means you harm then my hands are tied.  Unfortunately, I need more proof.

VINCE BLACK: So you need actual physical evidence? Okay well, right now I don’t have that for you.

CHIEF OF POLICE: As soon as you provide that with me then I can forward the requests above and see what happens.  Sorry.

VINCE BLACK: Well, thanks for seeing me anyway on such short notice.  I hope I didn’t disturb you from anything important.  Keep up the good work, chief, and again thanks for you time.

He walks out of the office and back into his truck heading to the office.  Right now he feels kind of defeated, but maybe the chief is right about one thing.  If he goes official with his announcement for the candidancy for president he will have protection and then no one would be crazy enough to do something then.  At least he thinks.

Frederick, Maryland

My wife and I went to Bob Evans in our neighborhood  yesterday morning after I just came from my midnight shift in the cold rain.  She was on the phone talking to her mother when I walked into the house, but it wasn’t long before we headed off to fill our bellies with home restaurant cooking.  Well, every time we walk into the Bob Evans we see this same hostess, who one day came out of nowhere.  Nice girl, lady, or woman because I have no idea how old she is or how old she really looks.  Anyway, she has a nice personality, but her actions are almost scary and weird.  I’ve been in many restaurants in my life time and I don’t recall seeing the hostess walking around as much as a waitress would while on the floor.  I mean not only does she show you to your seats, but she asks you things as you are being seated, such as ‘what you want to drink?’.  Well, she must have a short term memory or lapse in judgment because when she asked us the same question somehow I knew our drinks weren’t coming to us.

She asked if we wanted something to drink and we both asked for orange juice and about 15 minutes later still nothing.  She went back to seating others and stopping at tables just jumping into conversations kind of rudely.  She may call herself being helpful and friendly, but it’s overly nice and makes her look weird in our eyes.  I mean you have to be there to see how she is to know exactly what I’m talking about.  Just recently she must have gotten her hair done because it looked different when we walked in this morning.  Whoever touched her hair either rushed through it or something because they lied to her if they told her her hair looks good.  It looked liked someone took some flat comb, cold, through her hair and rolled the ends of her hair to add curls.  I kept looking at her hair in amazment trying to make sense of it, but couldn’t.

She doesn’t shave her legs and I think that is not very attractive.  Seeing hair on any woman’s legs is not normal and is not attractive at all.  I’m sorry.  Also this morning she walked up on a Mary Kay meeting that was happening behind wifey and interrupted a little bit to say a few words and walked away.  Like, she can’t stay up front to seat people or wait for customers to come in.  She’s forever running back and forth just moving chairs in places that don’t make sense and doing what a busboy does.  I just think she does too much to look busy and in turn looks insane running around like that.  My wife is good in figuring out people’s stories just to have fun to think how they are personality wise.  Neither her and I can figure this girl out and what her malfunction is.

If she asks me one more time or walks by our table bothering us while we eat she may get tripped up.  My wife used to work in the restaurant business and she understands what goes on in the restaurant and she does things out of the ordinary.  Not to mention when we first walked in she spoke to us in restaurant lingo.  What the hell?  She said to us “I’m doing seven top right now so I will have someone else helping you out.”  I looked at her like what the hell she just said.  Thank goodness La Bella Noir knew what was said to us.  If I said it correctly for those that don’t know it means she is preparing a table for seven people.  For us who has never been in the that type of business we have no freakin clue what you are speaking of.  I should have responded in my police lingo, “10-4, you look 10-6, let us know when you are 10-24 and 10-62.  Because you look like a 10-96 running around.”  Now you probably have no clue what I was saying if I said that to her.  To break it down here it is: “I acknowledge you, and you look busy, let us know when your assignment is complete and okay.  Because you look like a mental subject running  around.”

So she wins the “Hostess- H.A.M. Award” (Hot Ass Mess).  She is the first award winner of this prestigious accomplishment.  She must be their permanent hostess because she is always there, but then again we only go in their on the weekends.  Sorry home girl but you have to do better and relax.

“FLYING EAGLE”

We begin at the beginning of the work week for Vince, Monday morning after the president signed the economic bill into action.  There has been speculation through out the nation and throughout Congress that Vince Black may and is considering to run for the presidency.  He enters his office at approximately 0900hrs., and gets greeted by his secretary as he walks in.  She hands him a list of things to do, such as attend meetings and other involve himself with other international issues that faces our national security.  He gets to his chair after his secretary gives him a run down of how his day is to go beginning at 0930hrs.  He sits down and almost immediately his office phone rings and he picks up the phone to answer it.

VINCE BLACK: Hello? Senator Black?

CONGRESSMAN NICHOLSON: Hey Vince!  Did you get the memo that your secretary had waiting for you?

VINCE BLACK: Damn dude, I just got in not more than an actual minute ago.  Can I at least count to 10 and take about five breaths?

CONGRESSMAN NICHOLSON: Well, you better make sure that those breaths are quick and you can count pretty fast.  The White House Chief of Staff is looking for you and others who are not here at this meeting.

VINCE BLACK: The memo I have said 0930hrs and it is only 0910hrs.  What’s the rush?

CONGRESSMAN NICHOLSON: Yeah it was at 0930, but it was moved up to 0915 and you know if you are early you are on time.  So get your butt down here as quickly as possible.

Right about now Vince has the ‘Oh Shit’ factor going on in his head and then out of his mouth.  The White House Chief of Staff doesn’t like when people are late to his briefing or meeting about national security and other international news.  So right about now Vince just hangs the phone up and glances at this watch for a second and notices that he has only two minutes to make it down to the basement level of the Capitol.  Others in the hallway just see a potential blur of a human rushing down the hallway and yelling the word ‘EXCUSE ME!’ as he manuevers through the visitors and other fellow congressman.  He’s now rushing through the crowded spiral steps, which is alot faster at this point besides waiting for a empty elevator.  He begins to sweat a little bit and breath harder and can’t help, but think of what will the Chief of Staff say for him being late for this meeting.  He finally makes it to the entrance of the board room and the White House Chief of Staff already started the meeting.  He turns around and sees Vince rushing through the door to his seat that is assigned to him.  He pauses for a brief moment and stares at Vince and just long enough to make Vince break eye contact and continued.

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: So glad you decided to join us Senator Black.

VINCE BLACK: Sorry I’m late, but my secretary stated that it was at 0930hrs., not 0915hrs.

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I don’t like excuses Senator Black and reasons can be made into those very easily.  However, I will let you pass this time, but you will in the future check in to make sure nothing has changed.  With that I can understand and a call in stating you will be late is appreciative.  Can you remember that?

VINCE BLACK: Yes, sir.

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: As I was saying before we were interrupted the North Koreans are builing a nuclear arsenal and supposedly they already have a missle in production.  It is said it can reach as far inland as Las Vegas.  Right now it is still in it’s early stages so that so far is just intelligence that we can’t confirm.  Our borders on the other hand are in definite need of assistance north, south, and at the airports.  What do we as the International Committee on National Security do about these two issues?

CONGRESSMAN #1: I am still with building a fence along our borders, especially down south.  At the airports, we should probably think about hiring more TSA and Custom border agents.

VINCE BLACK: I don’t think hiring more is going to be a correct fix to the airport issue.  However, to build a fence along our borders to the south costs us millions of dollars not to mention the officers that are needed to protect the workers as they build the fence.  We already did a half-ass job as it is now and they are still crossing in other ways.  That problem will be a little more difficult to solve.  As for the airport issue it might be an inside issue that is allowing these immigrants to come into our nation illegally.  Not just hispanics either, Asians and other nationalities.  As for the Yemen national, who let him here?

CONGRESSMAN #1: (Responds to Vince’s comments)  Who let anyone here who is not suppose to be here?  We haven’t commented on the nuke threat of North Korea and what to do in that situation.

VINCE BLACK: Remember our job on this committee is to just give suggestions to the NSA and hopefully the president will use or if he chooses to do so ignore our recommendations and choose to go with what NSA stats.  We are in no shape to give advice, but my suggestion with North Korea is that we confirm anything before we start sending in troops or anything to difuse this issue.

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Sounds like someone is attempting to lay ground for the presidency.  Sounded like a political answer that I would probably say if I was running or going to announce it.  Anyway, I believe we need to take a day and go through the documents you have and make sure they don’t leave this office, building I mean.  Have a good day gentlemen and see you tomorrow at 0930hrs.

CONGRESSMAN NICHOLSON: Sorry for that embarrassing moment in front of everyone.  You know how he is.

Meantime, Vince is going back to view the documents that he received in the meeting and more interesting things are happening in town.  “Alexander Hamilton” is on his way back to his house in Bowie, Maryland from a breakfast date with his daughter.  Once they arrive to her door step they talk for a few minutes and continue to bond together.  Then he kisses her on her right cheek and walks back to his car and gets in the backseat of a black Chevy Tahoe.  As they are driving down the road and hit the highway he begins to speak to his colleagues in the truck.

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON”: Was you able to complete the task I asked you to complete there, Michael?

MICHAEL: Yes, sir I was able to get as much information on Senator Black as I can.  According to his record in the military he went in as a Military Intelligence Officer and later transfered to the Chemical Battalion stationed in Fort Jackson, South Carolina.  He spent approximately 21 years in the military and another 4 in the Minnesota National Guard as a MP.  Once he retired he studies several courses in bio-terrorism, chemical and nuclear weapons, and the affects of such weapons.  I can go on and on for a little while long, but  that is the jist of what he has in his record.

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON”: Good work, Michael.  I’m impressed with Senator Black’s military background as I read it here.  Have you heard anything from Elizabeth?  I’m kind of worried about her.  She hasn’t checked in in almost two weeks now.

MICHAEL: I can contact her and have her end her assignment?

“ALEXANDER HAMILTON” No that’s not necessary Michael.  I’m pretty sure she is doing quite well.  I just have to have faith that she can and will complete her assignment. Sighs.  Call the other guys and tell them I want to meet with them by the end of the week.

MICHAEL: Yes, sir right away.

It is about lunch time and Vince walks out of his office rubbing his eyes as if they hurt.  He blinks a few times to regain his focus and puts his glasses back on and focuses in on his secretary.  She looks up at him to see what he might want or is he okay and able to function for the rest of the day.

VINCE BLACK: Amanda, what are you having for lunch?

SECRETARY AMANDA: I made some lasagna for dinner last night and brought that in for lunch.  Why?

VINCE BLACK: Well, you’ ve been working hard for me for so long that I wanted to treat you our to lunch today.  You pick, I buy.  Sounds like a deal to you?

SECRETARY AMANDA: (In shock due to the niceness and offer)  I would love to eat lunch with you.  Just give me a few minutes to finish this paperwork and I will be with you.

VINCE BLACK: Okay great.

The phone rings and she answers the phone and she is thrown back by the person on the other end.  They seemed kind of rude on the phone and apparently they asked for Vince and she alerted him before he walked into the office.  He grabs the phone from her and answers up and announces himself.  The person on the other end just hung up and never said a word to him, but wonders what was said to her.

LOCATION: Central Maryland

Tommy arrives back at his room later that evening after they were rescued by the mysterious men in chemical suits.  The door closes behind him and he turns around looking at the door, but no one was there.  He runs his hands through his hair and starts to contemplate the conversation he had with the colonel just moments ago.  While he rethinks about his anwsers and second guessing his words spoken he walks over to his third floor window looking down at the men working.  As he is standing there trying to be observant he quickly notices that he hasn’t seen any women on base.  He thinks about it and that idea quickly goes away as he knows that some units are womenless, such as infantry units.  He looks up at the horizon and he can see the bay, which is known as Curtis Bay, and the bridge that was once there now demolished.

Just before he walks away from the window he glances at the flag pole just about 100 yards to his right and notices something completely odd.  There is no inclement weather storm approaching or currently falling upon them, but he knows that the American flag is not flying above.  He turns around slowly and thinks about when they were coming into the base and not one piece of American symbol was spotted.  He then became very curious and went to his room door and opened it up very slowly and saw two soldiers just outside of his door.  He opened the door just enough to get a sight of their uniform and sleeves.  As the two male soldiers are talking to each other he looks at their uniform and sees that they are wearing the woodland camo design, but no unit patch or American flag posted on their uniform.

He closes his door slowly and turns the knob so no one would know that his door was open then he locked it back.  He leans up against the door and closes his eyes and just remembers that the colonel didn’t explain what unit he was with.  Tommy starts to think about exactly who has them in custody and at what point will they determine that him and Sandra are not needed.  He hears a bunch of soldiers walking past his door and he stops thinking and pacing for a quick minute.  Waits until they past his door and out of range of his hearing and continues to think.  Somehow he had to alert Sandra of his findings and how they may need to determine an escape route.  Right now he knows that Sandra is with the colonel and that he can’t get to her now.  He sits down on his cot and lays down attempting to put all of his observations together and trying to make sense of it all, leaving the benefit of the doubt open.

Night falls upon the base and he is laying down on his cot facing the ceiling.  He notices that his room is a bit warm and opens the window a little to get some cool air flow.  He looks outside and notices that almost no lights on base are on and it is basically quite.  He opens the window some more and sticks his head out and hears nothing, but the wind blowing.  He gets an idea and goes to his room door and opens it and he peeps his head out looking into the hallway.  He sees no one on either end of the hallway and that the hallway is kind of dark, but he can still see if anyone is there.  He slides out of his room slowly and closes the door very gently not to make that closing sound.  He goes next door and calls out to Sandra in a loud whisper voice several times.  About a minute later she comes to the door and lets him into the room and they immediately hug each other tightly.

SANDRA: I thought I wasn’t going to see you for a while.  No one saw you coming into my room?

TOMMY: No one was out in the hallway besides the whole base has no lights on.  The hallway is dark, but you can still see either side of the hallway.

SANDRA: I’m glad you’re okay Tommy.  The conversation with Colonel Walker was not pleasant, but not horrible either.  Prying for information from me and wanting me to explain things to him that I have no idea about.

TOMMY: Such as?

SANDRA: Well, he was asking me about any family members who might have been in the military, umm…do I know exactly what happened and what have I seen that would give them a clue of what is going on.  Answers that we are attempting to find out ourselves.  I might have been in there for at least an hour.

TOMMY: He basically asked me the same questions, but I couldn’t give him any answers that he wanted to hear.  I’m afraid tomorrow they will be doing the same thing, but possibly more aggressive each time until they get information that they want and then dispose of us.

SANDRA: You mean kill us?  Were not a threat to them or anyone.  Why would they want to kill us?  Tommy what can we do?

TOMMY: Well, first of all I don’t think these men are in the military.

SANDRA: What do you mean not in the military?  They have military uniforms and vehicles and we’ve seen the colonel so what gives you the thought that maybe they are not who they say they are?

TOMMY: I’ve noticed that no women are on this base, but that can be explained.  The big thing is that we have not seen the American flag flown anywhere here on base, not one soldier has a unit patch or an American flag posted on their uniform, and we saw no military or American symbols coming into base.

SANDRA: Oh Tommy, you have to stop being so paranoid.  These people are here to help us, not hurt us.

TOMMY: You can believe that if you want too, but I’m telling you Sandra these people are not who they say they are.  We don’t even know what unit they are part of.

Sandra stood there looking at Tommy in the eyes and wanted to believe him, but couldn’t shake the doubt.  She decided believe what she was seeing with her own two eyes and Tommy got a little frustrated with her.  He said a few words to her and left her room going back to his room for the night.  She was looking out the window and started to think why would these people lie about who they are and show otherwise.  She went back to sleep and woke up the next morning by her door being kicked open violently.  She jumped up screaming and fighting the men who came in and grabbed her.  Tommy was awaken by the loud commotion and opened his door and heard Sandra screaming and fighting off the men in the hallway.  He went out in the hallway to see if he could save her, but two male soldiers got in the way to stop him.  He looked at them and they pushed him back each time he attempted to go around them.

One point one of the male soldiers gave Tommy a butt stroke to his head with the handle of his M-16.  Tommy falls into his door and to the floor with blood streaming down the side of his head.  He could hear the faint screams of Sandra down the hallway as the two men he was fighting walk away in the distance.  He crawls into his room checking his head and each time he does he sees blood on his fingers.  He goes to clean up his wound and begins to build up anger and frustration that he didn’t see any of this sooner.  As Sandra is being dragged down the hall she is thrown into a room head first and she lands on her stomach letting out a big grunt.  The light comes on and the light above blinds her and she hears the voice of Colonel Walker in the room, but can’t see him.

COLONEL WALKER: I think you have been lying to me Ms. Summers.  I want to know the truth and want to know right now!

Tommy dresses his wound the best way he knew how and had to think of how to get him and Sandra out of there.  First he opens the door and sees that there is a soldier on guard watch just outside of his door pacing back and forth.  He comes up with an idea of coming out of the room holding his stomach and acting like he was in pain.  The soldier turned around and had his rifle pointed at Tommy creeping towards him cautiously.  As soon as he gets close enough Tommy grabs the barrel of the rifle and begins to struggle with the soldier who is twice his size.  They both struggle over the possession of the weapon and Tommy gets struck in the face and gets his lip busted.  He falls backwards up against the wall and the soldier lunges forward and puts the rifle in his throat.  Tommy struggles to breath and quickly feels himself falling weak and knew he had to do something fast.

Tommy kicks the soldier between the legs, which causes the rifle to loosen off his neck, and hits the soldier in the face.  The soldier stumbles backward a few steps and Tommy drop kicks him in the face.  Tommy quickly grabbed a chair that was by him and swung it at his head and he fell to the floor lifeless. Tommy quickly checks his pulse and feels none and quickly grabs the rifle searching for Sandra.  First, he had to put the soldier in his room to delay any type of alarm that will be set once the dead soldier is found.  He takes off the clothes of the soldier and just so happens it fits him perfectly.  He begins to walk through the hallways with the uniform on and the hat low barely covering his eyes so no one can spot him easily.

He continues to walk the halls and sees a group of soldiers in the hallway talking and joking amongst each other.  He stands there thinking of what to do and he looks behind him and sees one soldier guarding a door.  Not sure of where Sandra is he goes to the soldier behind him and pretends to be on a mission.

TOMMY: Colonel Walker wanted me to join him in the interrogation of Sandra Summers.  Do you know where he could be?

SOLDIER GUARDING DOOR: In here talking to her now.  Name?

Tommy hesitates and gives him a name that may sound like one of them, but not sure.  Tommy gives him the name ‘James Morrison’ and the soldier hesitates as he never heard that name before.  He opens the door and leans in to alert the colonel of a James Morrison and suddenly gets pushed in by Tommy.  The group of soldiers down the hallway look towards the door where the soldier was and sees no one, but thinks nothing of it.  Tommy points his rifle at the colonel and the soldier on the floor.  He directs Sandra over to him and tells the colonel to keep his hands up where he can see them.

COLONEL WALKER: You know you may never make it out of here alive son.  Give up while you can and I might spare your life.

TOMMY: Yeah right!  I just got lucky and happen to find the right door in the place.  Now Sandra and I are walking out of here together and no one will stop me.

COLONEL WALKER: Two teenagers against nearly 2000 men on this compound I don’t think so, son.  This will end right here right now!

Colonel reaches down and pulls out his sidearm and Tommy pulls the trigger and shoots the colonel in the chest.  He falls down with his sidearm flying in the air and landing about ten feet away.  Tommy knows that there is no turning back as the soldiers in the hallway run towards the sound of gunshot.  They burst into the room and see their colonel on the ground dead and another soldier laying face down.  At the same time they observed that Tommy and Sandra ran out of the room and did a full sprint down the hallway.  The soldiers heard them and ran after them firing and alerted other soldiers on the compound.  By this time an alert on base was sounded throughout and Tommy and Sandra ran for their lives.  They found a set of stairs and began running down and heard the soldier above them still giving pursuit.  They reach the bottom of the stairs and go out the door and find themselves outside and they see a military style hummvvee across the lot.

They begin to run towards it and they receive gun fire at every step they make towards the vehicle.  They run towards the driver side of the vehicle and climb in through the door.  The hummvee receives several shots from rifles pointing at them from men on the roof and on the ground moving in.  Tommy didn’t know that it was bulletproof and that gave him hope of their escape.  He started it up and headed towards the gate driving through barrels, equipment, and nearly running over a few soldiers.  Men are coming out everywhere they turn to find their way out and even hit a few who tried to stop them.  Tommy finally finds the main gate and sees that a car was blocking their way with soldiers firing from around it.  He pushes the pedal to the floor and picks up the speed and strikes the car and pushing through the fence.

Once on the main road it was like a maze going through the destroyed vehicles, such as cars, trucks, and buses.  He continues and finds a highway that leads south towards Washington, D.C. and takes it.  They get about to the county line of Anne Arundel County and pull over as the vehicle runs out of diesel.  They exit the hummvvee and run into the woods as they can see the soldiers pursuing them.

NEXT PUBLICATION:  Beginning of November 2009

“SLIDE”

Vince wakes up on Saturday morning after a long hard week at the office.  He looks at the alarm clock sitting on his night stand and sees that it is about 9am.  He grabs his cellphone off of the nightstand and begins to dial his father’s house number.  After about three rings his fater picks up the phone and begins to speak.

VINCE BLACK: Good morning, dad.  How is it going?

JAMES BLACK: Hey! Good morning there son!  Glad to hear from you.

VINCE BLACK: I’m happy to call and wanted to see how you are doing?  Haven’t spoken to you in a long while.

JAMES BLACK: The last time we spoke we were fishing in the Chesapeake with one of your co-workers.  It was Congressman Nicholson?

VINCE BLACK: Yeah it was Nicholson.  We caught alot of fishes that day and I still have some left in my freezer in the basement.  That was fun and relaxing.

JAMES BLACK: So what do I owe the phone call today?

VINCE BLACK: I was wondering if you wanted to do lunch later this afternoon?

JAMES BLACK: Great!  About what time was you thinking about coming down?

VINCE BLACK: I was looking at about 12-1 pm.  Is that good with you?

JAMES BLACK: That’s great son.  I’ll be here waiting for you to come and give me a call when you are on your way.  Speak to you a little later.

Once he finished talking to his father on the phone he paged his driver and told him to be ready for a small trip around 12 today.  Almost immediately after he spoke to his driver his daughter, Katie, came rushing into the bedroom and jumped on the bed stomach first.

KATIE BLACK: Good morning, daddy!  I came to wake you up.

VINCE BLACK: Awww! How sweet of you Katie.  How long have you been up, sweetie?

KATIE BLACK: Since ummmmmmmm…..eight tirty.

VINCE BLACK: Well, I guess you are hungry?  What do you want for breakfast?

KATIE BLACK: Pancakes, bacon, and peanut butter.

VINCE BLACK: Wow! Okay honey.  I will be done there in a quick minute.  Daddy has to get dressed.

She says, “Okay”, and runs out of the bedroom and downstairs.  Vince gets up and gets dressed after he closes the bedroom door for some privacy.  He comes downstair about 10 minutes later in a pair  of blue jeans and his home football team sweatshirt “Vikings”.  After he made breakfast for his youngest daughter he went outside and got his newspaper and read it until he was ready to leave and go eat lunch with his father.  He got ready and his driver came to the door and asked was he ready to go and Vince acknowledged that he was indeed ready.

Vince called his father while on his way to see him and advised him to be ready.  Once he picked his father up from his house they went to one of their favorite restaurants in the county where his father lives called “Diamond Tuesday’s”.  They got seated about a few minutes after they walked in and almost immediately some people began to recognize who Vince was.  Only a handful of people came up to him and shook his hand and a couple of people from Minnesota introduced themselves to him and spoke of how proud they were of his success as Senator of thier state.

JAMES BLACK: Wow, you have a good following son.  I didn’t know you was so popular amongst the crowd.

VINCE BLACK: Well, with only six Independent Party members in Congress it’s not to hard to remember where we are all from.  I think the press conference in front of the Capitol the other day probably helped.

JAMES BLACK: You mean that press conference about the Yemen national who attempted to run the barracade?

VINCE BLACK: Yeah.  When the reporter asked me what I would do, I told her what I would do and that probably gave me a little bit more publicity.

JAMES BLACK: Well, I think people can also remember you because you are not afraid of standing up what you believe in and will take the president head on on some issues if need be.  Remember the issue about immigration and how you called out some senators.  You have made your mark in that government and I can only hope that you will continue to do so.

VINCE BLACK: Well, since you are hoping that I continue to do better in my political career then you maybe happy for what my next decision is.

JAMES BLACK: What decision is that?

VINCE BLACK: I’m running for president of the United States.

His father lifts his head up from the menu and looks at his son dead in the eyes and then the waitress comes over and interrupts them during their conversation.  Later, on when he drops his father off back home it was about 2pm and Vince was heading to the country club where he was playing tennis.  The driver stopped the car in front of his father’s house and then his father opened the door, but before exiting he exchanged a few words with his son.

JAMES BLACK: Are you sure you want to take this next step?

VINCE BLACK: You’ve asked me that at least three times already.  Are you not happy of me taking this next step?

JAMES BLACK: I am definitely happy for you wanting to be so ambitious, but I just wasn’t expecting it.  Normally you give warning before you do stuff like that, but no warning this time.

VINCE BLACK: Well, you have to realize I’m an adult now, I represent our home state, and that being proud of me and supportive is all I ask from you.

JAMES BLACK: I wish your mom was here to witness this.  I know she’d be kissing you and hugging you until you became president or when the election was over.

VINCE BLACK: Yeah, I know she was always happy when any of us made progress in our careers or made our goals.

JAMES BLACK: That reminds me you need to call your brother and sister.  They were asking about you and I’m pretty sure they will be happy to hear the news.

VINCE BLACK: I sure will do that.  Well, I have other things to take care of today, but it was good seeing you again dad.  I’ll be in touch.

Once his father got out and they shook hands he watched him go to the front door and waited until he entered his house before pulling off.  On his way back home his cellphone rings and grabs it from his pocket and sees that it is his daughter, Melissa.  He answers the phone and begins talking to his daughter.

VINCE BLACK:  Hello, sweetie! What’s up?!

MELISSA BLACK:  Hey dad, some lady called here asking to speak to you.

VINCE BLACK:  Oh really? Well, did you get a name or number for a callback?

MELISSA BLACK:  She said you would know who she is, but she didn’t give a name or number as a callback.

VINCE BLACK:  Okay…….are you sure it was for me?

MELISSA BLACK:  Yes.  She specifically asked for you by saying ‘May I speak to Senator Black, please?’

VINCE BLACK:  Okay, how am I suppose to know who she is if she didn’t leave a name or number?

MELISSA BLACK:  She said she visited you in your office the other night and that her name was left with your secretary.

VINCE BLACK:  What?…….(He immediately thinks about the woman that was in his office the night that Yemen national attempted to run through the gate.)  Oh no, honey…..ummmm………did a number come up on the caller ID?

MELISSA BLACK:  No, the number came up blocked and I attempted *69 and still couldn’t get any information back.  So I don’t know who it was.

VINCE BLACK:  Okay thank you Melissa.  I’ll be home in a bit, okay.  Later.

Immediately after that conversation with his daughter he begins to freak out a little bit more.  Now he is trying to figure out who is this woman that got into his office without his secretary knowing and now, this mysterious woman has his home number.  He can only imagine that since she has his home number that she knows exactly where he lives and knows more about his life than he would like for her to know.  Vince is now getting in the investigative mode and is wondering maybe if he contacts the officer who keeps track of visitors as they enter the Capitol and see if a name tag can be located.

Then he quickly suspected his secretary in covering up this mysterious woman being in his office.  He wanted to be careful in treading that water since she has been very valuable and has won a few awards in recognition of her job well done.  So if he is going to begin to accuse her, let alone bring up accusations without any proof , he needs to make sure Amanda is indeed covering this up.  He asks himself how was she able escape or leave the office without him seeing her and where was Amanda at that time?  Questions begin to form in his brain as he pulls back up in front of his house.  As he gets out and thanks his driver and tells him that he can head home early and see him Monday morning, he thinks if this woman in some small way going to be block in him running for president.  Right now he can only hope that she is not a bad apple from the past to ruin his present day lifestyle.

Pour some sugar on me

Vince wakes up the next morning after he has casted his vote for the economic bill and knowing that tomorrow is the day the president is suppose to sign it, he is excited to know that something he is supporting is about to come into law.  As he approaches his front door he sees his two daughters standing there in their blue and light yellow school uniforms with their bookbags on their backs.  He walks up to them and smiles and hugs each of them with a big long hug.

VINCE BLACK: You know I love you girls, right?

BOTH DAUGHTERS: We love you too, daddy!

VINCE BLACK: Alright! Now lets get ready for school and I shall see you girls in the evening.  If I get back early enough we can go out for ice cream.

They both shake their heads up and down with big grins on their faces as they walk out the door in front of him to head towards the truck.  They get in the backseat and he gets in on the front passenger seat greeting his driver with a big smile.  Who couldn’t tell that he didn’t like his job as being Senator?  Or maybe he is just so happy to have his daughters with him every step of the way.  For whatever the reason is Vince is happy this morning and ready to tackle today’s issues whatever they are.  Once he drops off his girls at their school he then proceeds to his office in Washington, D.C. and as he gets closer to the Capitol the traffic is heavier and heavier.  He turns to his driver and asks him does he know why traffic is so heavy today than other days.  His driver couldn’t answer that question and proceeded frustrated through the streets of the capital.

As soon as he gets up to the checkpoint and sees the officers approaching to ID them, he sees the front steps of the Capitol full of people.  He asks the officer at his passenger side window what is going on and the officer replies, “I believe the majority leader is having a press conference about what happened here yesterday.”  Vince looked at him in a confused look and the officer picked up on it and elaborated a little more.  “Yesterday we had an individual attempting to ram the gate on the other side off of First Street.  Once he ran into the barrier he proceeded to run towards the Capitol, but we tackled him before that could happen.”  Vince smiled knowing that the situation was defused before it got out of hand and that tells him why he saw police officers running down the hallway last night.

Once everything checked out okay they proceeded through the gate and his driver dropped him off at the front of the Capitol.  This was unusual, but the curiosity of Vince got the better of him.  He exited the truck and stood behind all the reporters and cameramen and trying to listen to what was being said at the podium.  He couldn’t hear the majority leader speaking and proceeded to walk up the steps and got to the step where the police chief was standing.  They greeted each other with a head nod and they both drew their attention quickly to the majority leader speaking.  Knowing that this has happened before he was wondering why such a big deal with the person ramming the gate.  You don’t hear this much attention when people attempt to climb over the White House fence.  Then his question was answered by the following statement.  “………like I said earlier the gentlemen that attempted to gain illegal entry into the Capitol was not a U.S. citizen.  We ID’d him as being a Yemen citizen and possibly a member of a terrorists organization.”

Vince heard that and his heart dropped as to how could this have happened.  He is not nieve to where he doesn’t think bad things can happen, but he knows that alot of things can be prevented by his colleagues just getting off of their asses and doing something about it.  He proceeds up the steps and one reporter recognizes him and so does other reporters.  The attention through the crowd rapidly draws towards him and makes the chief of police turn around.  Vince freezes and the majority leader stops speaking and for a moment everyone forgot that this news conference was live.  One reporter, a female from channel 7 news, asks him a question about yesterday’s events.

CHANNEL 7 NEWS REPORTER: Senator Black, with you attempting to run for president in a couple of years how would you resolve this issue?

VINCE BLACK: I…….ummmm…..I would resolve this issue by finding out how this Yemen national got into the country and what his intentions were for doing what he did.  It is possible that he was not conducting a terrorists plot, but a probe to see how we respond to such an act.  We have to remember that terrorists watch television too and believe me they are keeping records.

CHANNEL 7 NEWS REPORTER: Thanks Senator for your answer.

That was a very good answer apparently because he was expecting more barrage of questions from the reporters, but that didn’t happen.  Once that was over he rapidly went up the stairs to proceed to his office and to do his work.  He enters his office and sees Amanda and greets her as he walks in and she replies.  Once he settled in his office for a few minutes he called Amanda into his office.  She entered with nail polish in her hands and he could clearly see that she was doing her nails.

SECRETARY AMANDA: Yes, Vince?

VINCE BLACK: That woman that was in my office last night, who is she?

SECRETARY AMANDA: I don’t know what woman you are referring too.

VINCE BLACK: (Looks at her to see if she was honest and he could tell that she was.)  Well, whoever she is she was in here and how she got in is a mystery.  Okay well, that’s it thanks for your help.

She goes back to her desk and glances back at him and then she goes back to her desk.  Later on Vince lets his secretary know that he is heading to lunch with Congressman Nicholson and that if any calls come in for him to take a message and give them to him when he returns.  He meets Nicholson in the lobby and they go out the front door and decided to walk to a deli that is on a corner about three blocks away.  They enter the deli and some people recognize them immediately and go up to them to greet them and shake their hands.  Once they ordered their food and sat down waiting for it some people were curious about the economic bill that was going to be passed and proceeded to ask them about it.

One customer started the mini debate on the economic bill.

CUSTOMER #1: Senator Black, I was wondering this economic bill that is to be passed by the president tomorrow, does it speak anything about Veteran’s care?

VINCE BLACK: The bill speaks about better care for our veteran’s whether in or out of the military.  We are putting about $10 million dollars ontop of the funds we already supplied to the Veteran Affairs Administration just last year.  Our veteran’s need better care, health wise, mentally, and financially.

CUSTOMER #2: It that really the case, Senator?  From my understanding the economic bill is going to better the upper middle-class.  Anyone making less than 65k a year will be pretty much on their own.

Vince and Nicholson attempting to see who was the person that made that remark about the economic bill.  They go to the counter and retrieve their order and Nicholson pays for it.  They both face the customers and asks who was that customer that made that statement.

CUSTOMER #2: It was me (He was sitting in the corner of the deli) I said it.  I know a few people who lets me know how things are going inside the government.

VINCE BLACK: Are you saying you have connctions to the government?

CUSTOMER #2: I wouldn’t call them connections just people who I have helped in the past and throughout their time in government I’ve saved their career from being damaged.  The econcomic bill that is to be passed tomorrow by the president will not alone get our country out of massive debt.  The government that we have elected into office will have to do more and give more to us citizens here on the street.  We need to solve the homeless situation in this country for good and know when to stick our nose into other nation’s business.

CONGRESSMAN NICHOLSON: Well, folks thanks for your time and we appreciate your support as we continue to make this nation the strongest one on earth.

VINCE BLACK: Thanks sir.  I would like to know your name. (As he approaches to shake his hand and get closer.)

CUSTOMER #2: Anytime, my name is Alexander Hamilton.  Nice to meet you.

VINCE BLACK: (He smiles at him and shakes his head up and down.)  Nice to meet you and I hope we can have an opportunity talk some more.

Vince waves at everyone and walks out of the deli back to the office with lunch in hand.

CONGRESSMAN NICHOLSON: That guys knows too much about the economic bill.  Who do you think he is?

VINCE BLACK: (Stops at a crosswalk)  A very informative citizen.

Our United States Armed Forces are one, if not the most powerful military in the world.  From my observations no one has seen any military force quite like ours since the World War II era of Nazi Germany.  I can say that I am proud to have been part of that particular portion in my life and if I had the opportunity again to do it, I would, but it would be a different branch.  I work with alot of ex-military guys in my police department and most of them would say the same thing.  Most of my friends are either Marines or Army and I just so happened to be an army veteran.  It was a long eight years in the military, but my experiences through those years I say were mostly good and not so much bad as I think about it now.

Most people would say that we don’t belong in Iraq and/or Afghanistan.  Well, serving time in Afghanistan for nine months and doing certain missions made me realize that we do belong in that country, but not in Iraq.  The Iraq War seems to be a ‘get back at you for my father’ type of deal than what was the original plan of nuclear or chemical weapons being stashed.  Now, we have a president who is attempting to bring us out of that mess that was caused by, I think, selfish needs and personal issues.  Now, since things in Iraq are not as violent as they once were everyone’s attention is turning to Afghanistan.  For those that don’t know the terrain there it is quite something to navigate through.

The only beautiful sight of Afghanistan is the snow cap mountains in the distance.  The rest of that country is essentially war torn and landmines basically anywhere where there is no hardtop road.  We may not all agree with our government sending troops overseas in a foreign land to fight a war, but we all must support our troops in fighting for, not only our lives, but their lives as well.  It doesn’t matter who disagrees with who on what issue because the fact remains that the troops are still over there fighting a war that they didn’t ask for.  We don’t know who our enemy is as oppose to seeing a enemy soldier in uniform that you can recognize that is not ours.  Those terrorists organizations are fighting a war that we are not familiar with and probably won’t really adjust too.

All of our troops need the love and caring from everyone back here at home and not just their families.  I can’t imagine the soliders and marines coming home back in the 70’s from Vietnam being spitted on or cussed at because they were fighting a war that we should have ended years earlier.  If you really think we have the firepower to end any war that starts with us and continue on like nothing happen.  We don’t do that because we want to make everyone our friend and attempt to rebuild nations that were torn down.  Which is all fine and good, but at some point that becomes a moot point and that could backfire upon us.  Example of that is when we helped the Taliban to fight against the Russians in the 80’s by giving them weapons and training.

Now, we are fighting the very people that we helped to defeat the Russians and that is why they are hard to defeat in a blink of an eye.  As we are training the Afghanistan military and police some are going AWOL and going to the Taliban and Al-Queda with the training we once gave them recently.  So this is a never ending cycle or could be if we don’t put an end to it soon.  With the media here in the United States most of us will not know the exact cause of why we are having a hard time with the enemy and what is exactly going on.  People here can protest all they want and go to the White House and stand on the front steps or outside the gates and yell, but the fact remains our troops are still there.

Veterans care is not where it should be, but better then where it used to be.  Let’s care about our veterans coming home and treat them respectfully and learn from their experiences.  All we want is America to cheer that we are home safely and free and that we can, or most of us, can return back home to our family and loved ones.  You don’t have to support the war just the military that is fighting for our freedom and to deflect as much terror as they possibly can.