Archive for the ‘ BLOG NOVEL CHANNEL ’ Category

“SHOOTING STAR” Chapter IX: Firestorm

LOCATION: Eastern, United States

As the president of the United States is being alerted to the five missiles that were launched from Fredericksburg, Virginia he authorizes the next level of defense.  At this point no one knows, except the White House staff and high authorities of the federal government, where the president is being hidden.  In the meantime the president is dealing with numerous issues that could hold the country together, but if any of the issues take hold then divided we fall.  The secretary of defense is also alerted by the military commanders that the missiles accompanied by the “Blackhawks” were not located on airport grounds and that they have been launched.  The military intelligence unit rushes to find out where the missiles are heading and to alert those military units of incoming fire.

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Mr. President, the missiles that were launched from Fredericksburg are still in the air and we now know the location of two missiles.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: Where are they headed?

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Two of the five are headed towards Cleveland and Atlantic City.  The other three may have a device on board where we can’t pinpoint their destination.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: Lord, how could this have happened? As he said this to himself.

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: The Joint Chiefs want to know what our response will be.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: How long until the two missiles hit their mark?

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We have approximately 8 minutes until the missile hits Atlantic City and 10 minutes until Cleveland is hit.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: So basically we have no time to alert any kind of evacuation those two cities.  More people will die.

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We still have our emergency communications up and linked to the NSA satellite.  We can at least have those two cities alert the public by sounding off the horns.  After that, we have to wait and see what happens.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: Do that then.  Does the defense secretary know?

WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: He is aware and have called an emergency meeting with the Joint Chiefs.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: I will join the meeting.  In the meantime do me a favor.  Start praying if you haven’t already started.

The city of Cleveland and Atlantic City, both, have sounded their emergency alert message the best way they can with limited signals received.  Since the attacks, most cities were sent back close to the stone age when an EMP (electric magnetic pulse) was set off.  Atlantic City and Cleveland are the few cities, at least on the eastern half of the U.S. that was able to still have some type of electronic communication with its public service personnel, nearby military units, and able to alert the public of breaking news.  Unfortunately, Atlantic City was not alerted soon enough and suffered the same fate that other cities on the eastern coast suffered.  Cleveland was able to save themselves at the last minute by having a surface to air missile loaded on the back of a military vehicle just outside of the city limits.

The president walks into the modified war room in their secret location and along with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Secretary of Defense is linked via satellite.

DEFENSE SECRETARY: Mr. President, our situation in attempting to secure our nation’s security is quickly dwindling.  We need to act fast and swiftly.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: Do we know who our enemy is and what caused all of this?

MARINE JOINT CHIEF: We are still trying to follow up on some leads along with the full authority and support from the F.B.I.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: What leads do we have at this point?

MARINE JOINT CHIEF: Well, right now we have leads that give us a group or numerous groups working together in conducting these attacks.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: Was the Blackhawks included in this list of leads or should we say suspects?

ARMY JOINT CHIEF: The Blackhawks were not included in the list of groups that we have that maybe involved with these attacks.  We honestly, had no idea of their existence.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: So since we had no idea of their existence until now, how credible is the list of suspects we have and is their one that is the head of the organization of groups?

DEFENSE SECRETARY: We have received the list of possible suspects from the F.B.I. and if you want to see it we can show it to you.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: I don’t need to see the list, but I do want to know how many suspected groups we have listed.

MARINE JOINT CHIEF: We have at least twenty groups and counting.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: Twenty?!  How many are domestic and international?

DEFENSE SECRETARY: More than half are domestic and the others are international, but may have not actively been involved in these attacks.  They are however, supporting the domestic terrorism groups to carry out their missions.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: So we are basically being attacked from within, which is much more difficult to handle with all the individuals and groups involved.  Do we have any indication of government infiltration?

AIR FORCE JOINT CHIEF: Looks at the other Joint Chiefs, the defense secretary, and then the president himself.  At this time we have no indication of any inside job or mole.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: I find that hard to believe general.  With this type of attack coordination among several groups, we have to have an inside mole.  Find out who, why, and alert me of the changes during the investigation.

MARINE JOINT CHIEF: In the meantime, Mr. President, with the recent missle attacks, what should be our next move?

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: What happen to those five missiles that were launched?

AIR FORCE JOINT CHIEF: Cleveland is the only city that was prepared to defend themselves.  Almost immediately after the attacks they had the presence in mind to have surface to air missiles stationed outside the city.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: Okay, so what happened to the other four?

DEFENSE SECRETARY: Atlantic City, Pittsburgh, Richmond, and Raleigh were all hit.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: Oh my God!  What were they loaded with?

AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF: We are still trying to figure that out from the one that we did disarm during the assault of the airport. Suddenly the phone rings inside the room and the marine joint chief answers it.

MARINE JOINT CHIEF: That was the ordinance commander.  We have results of the test of that missile we disarmed.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: What was in the missile, general?

MARINE JOINT CHIEF: Since we don’t have the other five to match and determine that this is what they were loaded with, but I think it is safe to assume that the other five may have been loaded with mustard gas.

A collective sigh was heard throughout the room and the president bowed his head down and closed his eyes.  Raised his head back up.

PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: I can only hope that the other five were not loaded with chemical weapons.  Gentlemen, we have a war on our hands on our own soil and our citizens are depending on us to protect them.  You have your list of suspects and I urge you to start shaking them to find out who is responsible.  You do what you need to do to either bring them to justice or eliminate the threat.  The only two cities that were hit worse that we know of is Baltimore and Boston.  Two nuclear bombs have been detonated on U.S. soil and I’m afraid that they are more here.  Those groups have the means and determination to carry out the threats.  I know of five states, with Georgia being one them general (to the Air Force Joint Chief) as that being your home state, threatening to go their separate ways if we can’t do the job of protecting our nation.  More states are to follow if we can’t get to the bottom of this and I mean now.  We loose one state, we loose them all.

The president stands up and so does the Joint Chiefs.  He walks out of the room and they remain standing looking at each other as if they are looking for answers.

2010
01/22
CATEGORY
"Shooting Star" Blog Novel
2 comments

“SHOOTING STAR” Chapter VIII: Security Forces

LOCATION: Somewhere just outside of Fredericksburg, Virginia

It’s about midway through fall or through October rather and the country is still in disarray with no clear cut leadership to run everything.  Most of the governmental body was evacuated out of the nation’s capitol and taken to secret locations.  That was done to protect the leadership and integrity of the country, but all it did was add doubt in the people’s mind that the government has abandoned them to defend for themselves.  At this point, the nation’s capitol is still standing strong and tall and may have missed the initial attack, but with it still standing it brings more attention from the enemy or enemies who want to see it fall.  Washington, D.C. is secured from all access points and without proper identification you will not be able to enter the city.  All other transportation such as trains and ferries are still accessible, but only to government employees who work in the city and in the surrounding immediate areas.  The closes international airport is only open to business travel to federal government employees and the access point to and from for foreign diplomats and V.I.P.’s.

About one hour south down the interstate the city of Fredericksburg has gone through its changes since the attacks.  The military base that is about half hour south is dedicated to protect the integrity of the city and its components.  Currently, the city is partially under siege, well, the southern half of it is and destruction and terror has brought this city to almost a complete standstill.  One of the major objectives that the military must achieve in order to bring law and order to the city is to take control of the Fredericksburg Airport.

The airport is currently under the control of a local gang, who was able to get possession of military style weapons.  According to the intelligence received by the defense secretary the gang in control of the airport has missiles that can potentially reach Washington, D.C. and threatened the security of the nation.  The base commander has been given the task of eliminating the enemy and seize control of the airport within the next 48 hours.  The commander has handed down the tasks and two platoons have been assigned to carry out the mission of overrunning the airport.

First platoon was given the task along with second platoon, as third platoon was given the task of support operations.  Fourth platoon was given the assignment of being re-enforcements for the mission.  All platoons have been given their assignments and are ready to begin the mission the following day at 0600hrs.

1ST PLATOON SGT: Men, tomorrow we go into battle to overtake the Fredericksburg Airport from a local gang known as the “Blackhawks”.  Some of them have military training and it has been confirmed that military weapons are present.  Along with our mission to destroy the enemy, we are also task with destroying or disarming the missiles that are also present.  That is the number one task at hand and then we concentrate on eliminating the enemy threat.  Serge?

2ND PLATOON SGT:  Thanks, Serge!  Second platoon our task in this mission is to cover the ass of first platoon.  We will provide cover and radio back here to base for any artillery fire that is needed.  In case a missile is launched during our assault, we will alert the commander immediately and he will indeed contact the person of interests in D.C. and we will go from there.  There is a possible way of destroying it in mid-air, but that control maybe in the control tower, where they have snipers positioned.  Men, we are to succeed in this mission and failure is not an option.  Understood?  Then men give a collective “HOOAH!!!”

The following morning the men were up and ready to load up by 0500hrs.  First platoon moved out first and then second platoon behind them five minutes later.  Third platoon was positioned in the rear of the assault so they are easily accessible by the troops.  Fourth platoon positioned themselves on the north end of the airport closes to the city.  At about 0545hrs., first platoon, of about 25 men, walked the railroad tracks that are just south of the airport to get in position for the assault.  Second platoon was right behind them as covering the rear as they marched along the tracks.  When the airport was in sight the leader of the pack put up the signal to halt the movement.  They all stopped and second platoon was motioned to the front to provide the cover for first platoon.  Once they were in position first platoon then rushed into position quietly just ahead of second.

When the clock hit 0600hrs., that is when the artillery was fired upon the airport.  The first mortar hit the grounds of the airport within 100 meters of the tower and that is when first platoon assaulted the airport.  As mortars rang down from above first platoon encountered their first obstacle, the outer fence.  Once that was cut and a hole was big enough for the men to go through they assaulted.  The Blackhawks somewhat was ready for their surprise attack, but naturally was caught off guard of the mortars coming down.  As first platoon made their way through the fields of the airport under fire, second platoon took aim at the enemy and opened fire.  Just within the first few shots of their rifles about five Blackhawks were killed near the tower.  One gunner, armed with a M249 SAW, was assigned to fire upon the tower.  The first missile was found just about 100 yards into the assault and a private ran over, disarmed it while he was being covered by second platoon.  No one expected the next events to happen.

Artillery was told to stop the assault so the ground forces could take control.  As first platoon was gaining ground on the enemy and towards the tower, only one missile was found, but no one knew how many missiles were actually at the airport.  Most of the men were at the prone position engaging the Blackhawks who were falling left and right.  As the first members of first platoon gained ground on the tower the were at the end of the grassy field before pavement when one of them stepped on a trigger wire.  The one that did fell forward and the others were trying to figure out what happen and then suddenly a loud explosion occurred and fire began to spread through the fields putting the men in danger of burning to death.  Anyone by the explosion was killed instantly and since the grassy field was dry, even though it was cool outside, others began to run for cover, but for most the fire got them first.  Second platoon watched in horror as everyone on first platoon was burned to death or was killed by enemy fire.

Since a wall of fire separated the rest of the troops from the Blackhawks, some of them began running towards the woods towards fourth platoon.  Second platoon called in fourth platoon for re-enforcements and they gladly engaged at the enemy running towards them.  Second platoon engaged at the retreating forces and killed them as they ran towards the woods.  Some were being engaged from the tower and returned fire.  Others went to sweep the airport to make sure no other enemies remained outstanding.  Two more soldiers were killed during the firefight with the tower.  The Blackhawks had the height advantage so they were able to engage the soldiers from all sides.  They couldn’t call in artillery for support or they would end up killing themselves along with the enemy and destroying the tower.  As the soldier assigned to engage the tower, engages, his team assaults and lets him know when they get to the tower so he can cease fire.

As some members of second platoon attempt to clear the tower they face several skirmishes in the hallways, stairways, and when they get to the top of the control tower.  Two other second platoon soldiers are wounded in the clearing of the tower.  In the meantime fourth platoon is engaging the Blackhawks in the woods and have them pinned in a valley.  Grenades were thrown by the Blackhawks and killed a few fourth platoon members.  One Blackhawk member yelled into his radio to launch the missiles, but he didn’t know that the tower was being seized.  Some of the soldiers were fighting hand to hand combat in the tower trying to keep each other away from the trigger button.  He repeats the command, but hears no missiles being fired and he alerts his men.  They attempt to retreat from the valley, but to no avail.  Every person of the Blackhawks gang was killed in the woods by fourth platoon, while fourth platoon only lost a few members,  several were wounded.  The unwounded ones began to run towards the control tower and could see that second platoon was engaged in close quarters combat.  A few members of the Blackhawks engaged fourth platoon as they charged the tower and some fell from the enemy fire.  The ones who made it hugged the base of the tower to be safely away from enemy fire, but that was short lived.  A grenade was dropped from high above and landed in front of a few soldiers and exploded.  One soldier lost his face, while the others escaped with serious wounds that took them out of the action.  The remaining members of fourth platoon engaged from the base of the tower up to the top.  Some second platoon members were still fighting hand to hand with knives and butts of empty weapons.  One Blackhawk had a bayonet and stabbed one soldier in the back, but he was shot by one of the squad sergeants in the back of the head.  Then the squad sergeant shot the other Blackhawk who was  fighting with the fallen soldier.  The squad leader ran up the steps and saw one Blackhawk member reaching for the trigger and shot him.  The guy turned around and open fire shooting the squad leader in the chest.  The squad leader falls to his knees and fires one more shot hitting the Blackhawk member, but not killing him.  The squad leader falls face first and dies on scene, as the wounded Blackhawk member finally gets to the trigger button and launches the missiles, which were located miles away from the airport.  Soldiers on the ground can hear them streaking in the sky and looked up and could see five missiles climbing the sky to maximum peak before hitting their target.

All of the Blackhawk members were killed in the assault, but not without loosing half of the assaulting force.  The base commander was notified of the launched missiles, but no one knew exactly where they were going.  It was assumed they were headed towards Washington, D.C., but it would appear that their calculations were incorrect.

NEXT PUBLICATION:  Beginning February 2010

2010
01/15
CATEGORY
"Shooting Star" Blog Novel
2 comments

“SHOOTING STAR” Chapter VII: Confidential Informant

 LOCATION: Military Base

It has been about two weeks since Tommy received the news from Jason that one of the southern states are threatning to secede the union.  He has been eager to share this news, but with the fear of getting Jason in trouble and causing unrest among the population he decided to keep it to himself.  It is just after midnight and Tommy hears a knock on his door and gets startled a bit.  He walks over to the door and looks through the peep hole, which he can barely see out of, and sees someone standing there.  He opens the door and sees Jason standing there in a white wife-beater and grey sweatpants.

TOMMY:  Jason? It’s after midnight.  If they catch you after curfew you know what will happen.

JASON:  I am aware of the curfew, but the information I have to share with you is important and might not be able to wait until tomorrow.

TOMMY:  Alright come in.  What’s the important information?

Jason sits down on Tommy’s bed and runs his hands through his blonde hair and looks up at Tommy.

JASON:  New people have been picked up and are arriving tomorrow after lunch.  One of them is supposedly from Philadelphia and another one from Atlanta.

TOMMY:  Isn’t that good news?  You sound bummed out by these new people coming in.

JASON:  Because one of them is likely to be a C.I., but for who we don’t know.

TOMMY:  Aren’t C.I.’s usually employed by a police department or maybe considered some type of spy?

JASON:  Exactly.  A spy.  For all we know this new person coming in could be working for the enemy to gather intelligence or for some other purpose.  What we do know is that one of the is a C.I. and I advise you to treat water lightly.  Don’t speak to anyone of the things you know.

TOMMY:  You got it.  My lips are sealed.  Jason gets up and taps Tommy on the shoulder and tells him goodnight and goes back to his room.  Tommy takes a seat back on his bed and picks up the magazine was reading some time ago, but couldn’t concentrate after receiving that news.  He throws the magazine down and rolls over facing the wall and goes to sleep.

He wakes up to his alarm about six hours later and gets prepared for breakfast.  As he gets downstairs he spots Sandra sitting by herself and goes over to keep her company.  He sits down across from her and acknowledges her, but she was hesitant to acknowledge him.

TOMMY:  What’s wrong? Lately, you’ve been kind of not yourself.

SANDRA:  I don’t know what you are referring too.  I’m fine.

TOMMY:  Okay, if you say so I don’t want to push the issue. 

Sandra looks up at him and responds to his statement.

SANDRA:  I’m fine okay Tommy.  Nothing is bothering me at all.  What we’ve been through do you expect us to be the same way from before?  She gets up after she finishes eating and leaves the dining hall.  Tommy watches her leave and then Jason comes into his view and Jason sees him.  Jason walks over and sits down in the seat where Sandra was and starts talking to Tommy.

JASON:  Could you sleep last night?

TOMMY:  I slept pretty good.  First night of any type of sleep since all of this happened.

JASON:  You’re not concerned about this C.I. coming into the camp?

TOMMY:  Why should I?  You’re the one that has more to loose than me.  I only know a little, but you know how to get the information and where from.

JASON:  You know enough from what I told you.  Anyone finds out you know what you know that will start some shit that we can’t control.

TOMMY:  Relax, Jason.  I’m not telling anyone.  I haven’t even told Sandra, who’s been with me through all of this.  Your information is safe with me.

Both men stop talking and basically ate their breakfast and went their seperate ways afterwards.  They met up at lunch time and Tommy was coming into the dining hall after playing football.  Jason sees him in line and rushes over to him and pulls on his sweatshirt.  Jason tells him to meet him at the lunch table for an update, but this was whispered in his ear.  Jason walks away and back to the table as the other guys Tommy was joking with stop and look at each other in confusion.  Once Tommy received his food he walked over to the table and saw Cindy with Sandra across the dining hall talking.  Tommy stops for a second to get a view of them both, but gets interrupted by Jason calling out to him.

JASON:  I’ve been looking for you all morning. 

TOMMY:  Well, I’ve been basically out talking to other people and then I went and played football.  What’s up, man?

JASON:  You know the confidential informant that is suppose to arrive with the new people after lunch?

TOMMY:  Yeah, what about him?

JASON:  Well, for one it’s a woman and secondly they are already here.

TOMMY:  What?! In a loud quite voice.  What the hell?  Since when?

JASON:  Apparently, they have been here almost since the beginning of all of this. 

TOMMY:  How did this information get all twisted up?

JASON:  I don’t know exactly and still trying to find out.  From now, on be careful and we will only talk in a secluded spot away from others.  Watch your girl too, if she knows anything that we don’t know she maybe in danger as well.

TOMMY:  She’s been with me for a long time I doubt she knows anything.

JASON:  Just watch her and those two she hangs out with.  As soon as I get more information I will let you know.  So Tommy and Jason finish up their conversation and once they finished eating they went their seperate ways once again for the day.  It was dinner time and Tommy didn’t see Jason at all in the dining hall and didn’t see Sandra either.  He looked around as he was in line and he saw only Greg, but no Cindy and no Sandra.  He stared at the back of his head, but dared not going over there fearing of what Jason told him.  He ate his dinner by himself and went back to his room to excercise to relieve some stress.

He hears a knock at his door and looks at his watch and see that it is close to 2230hrs.  He figured it was Jason again after curfew hours and opens the door and his guess was right.

TOMMY:  Man, you like living dangerously.  I’m assuming you have important information to share.

JASON:  I’ve been trying to figure out who this woman is all day, but got nothing.  I’m trying to figure out what is going on here.  I have to keep trying.

TOMMY:  Keep the faith you’ll find out. 

JASON:  The last time someone told me that there was a new world among us.  Then the next thing I know I’m here on a military installation.  He walks out and Tommy closes the door behind him and ponders on that thought for a moment.  He walks to the window over looking the playing fields and looks up at the full moon shining high above the base.  He looks down at the horizon and can see flashing like lightning or something in the distance.  As he stares at it he doensn’t think it’s lightning, but he doesn’t know exactly what it is.  He dismisses it and goes to bed and gets ready for the next day.

The next day he from morning to dinner he looks for Jason, but can’t find him anywhere.  He walks around looking for him and asking others have they seen him, but no one seems to know exactly where he is.  After a long day Tommy goes to his room and opens the door and suddenly gets pushed into the room falling stomach first bouncing his chin off of the floor.  The door slams behind him and he turns over and sees Jason standing a few feet away from him with a knife in his hand.

JASON:  Who in the hell did you tell?

TOMMY:  What the hell are you talking about?  What’s the knife for?  Jason throws a note at him and tells him to read it.  Once he read it he responded.  For one I didn’t know you was from Chicago and second, I told no one about who you are and what you know.  That would be stupid you have to believe me.

JASON:  Prove it to me.  Tommy gets up slowly and tells him that he can prove to him that is not his handwriting.  Tommy grabs his journal and opens to a random page and hands the journal to Jason.  Jason, with a killers look on his face, grabs the journal and the note at the same time and compares the handwriting.  After further investigation Jason was able to determine that Tommy was not the culprit.

TOMMY:  See man, I told you I was not going to trade on you.  Jason begins to calm down and places the knife in his backside and apologizes to Tommy.  Goes over to the sink and gets a paper towel to wipe his chin and exchange kind words to each other.  Before Jason left they were laughing about the ordeal and swore to keep it to themselves.  Jason turned around before leaving the room and asked Tommy for a favor.

TOMMY:  Sure, what is that favor?

JASON:  If you find out who this was I will let you in on my circle of information.  Deal?  Tommy thought about that deal for a brief moment and after a few seconds of thinking he agreed to the deal and it was set.  Jason left the room and Tommy went to bed after his heart was back in his chest from that scary moment of nearly getting killed.  He thought though where did the knife come from?

The following day again Tommy couldn’t find Jason, but this time he was looking behind him.  As he went back to his room the next night he saw a soldier come out of Jason’s room and go down the hall.  He was shocked at what he saw and became curious and walked to the hallway to watch the soldier disappear around the corner.  Once the soldier disappeared Tommy drew his attention to Jason’s door and saw it was partially open where he could barely see light shining through.  As he crept closer to the door he looked behind him and down the hallway to make sure no one was coming.  He leaned forward to hear inside, but the voices were muffled a little bit and couldn’t make out the words that were being said. 

Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind by Greg with his hand around his mouth.  Greg pulls Tommy close to his body and tells him to hush and go into his room.  Greg opens the door and allows Tommy in and that is when another soldier came down the hallway into Jason’s room. 

GREG:  What do you think your doing?

TOMMY:  Trying to listen in on the conversation of my friend Jason.  Why do you need to know?

GREG:  The military finds out that you are listen in on their interrogation they will make you part of that such ideal.

TOMMY:  Jason is my friend and I deserve to know what is going on with him.  He is one of the very few ones here on base that I can trust.

GREG:  Trust?  Let me explain to you about trust, son.  Don’t trust anyone around here, anyone because the same person you trust will turn their back on you in the time of need.  Believe me I know.

TOMMY:  You turned your back on someone you trusted?

GREG:  It was the other way around, kid.  Take head to that advice.

That is when the door burst open and two soldiers standing their with their M-16 slung on their shoulders.

SOLDIER #1:  Which one of your is Tommy?

Greg points to Tommy and the two soldiers look at him and Tommy confirms the identity of himself.  They grab him by the arm and explain that he needs to come with them.  As the soldiers escort Tommy down the hallway Cindy and Sandra are coming back and see Tommy in between the two soldiers.  Sandra looks at him with a surprise look on her face, “What’s going on, Tommy?”  She repeats the question and follows it up with another one, “Where are you going?”

Sandra turns around and sees Greg walking out of the room.  A few seconds later Jason is escorted out in zip ties between two soldiers down the hall behind Tommy. 

SANDRA:  Looking at Greg.  What the hell is going on?  Help him!

GREG:  I can’t, Sandra.  I’m sorry.

CINDY:  What happen, Greg?

GREG:  They busted into the room and asked for him and then they took him down the hall.  That’s when you came.

They all look at each other and tears starts to stream down Sandra’s face in fear of the unknown possibilities.  Would she see him again was her greatest question and if not what would happen to him.  At this point he doesn’t know the identity of the confidential informant.  Will he ever know now, is the biggest question, unknown to Sandra he could be guilty of espionage.

NEXT PUBLICATION:  Mid-January 2010

2010
01/01
CATEGORY
"Shooting Star" Blog Novel
Leave a comment

“SHOOTING STAR” Chapter VI: What to Believe?

LOCATION: Military Installation (Somewhere in central MD)

It has been about three weeks since Tommy and Sandra were picked up at the main entrance and taken on base as part of the civilian population.  Just recently Tommy has begun a journal of the things that they have seen and are experiencing in this life after death.

TOMMY’S JOURNAL ENTRY:  It has been three weeks almost to the day since Sandra and I have been taken under the care of the military.  We have met new friends since being here, well, I don’t know if they are considered friends yet, but they seem to know exactly what is going on around here.  According to Greg and Cindy the city of Baltimore was basically hit with a nuclear bomb and so was Boston, but Philadelphia remains as a mystery.  I wonder why the public was not notified of the horrible events that occurred or were occurring at the time before the blasts, as it is referred too.

I’m not even 18 years old yet and I feel like we went through a time warp that has encouraged fast-pace aging mentally and most definitely physically.  We have been shot at and seen people die in ways that I hope to not see again, but most confusing among all of this is we still don’t know what happen.  Who can I believe at this point since we have been deceived before and will do what is necessary to prevent that from happening again.  I care too much about my life, of what is left, and the well-being of Sandra that anyone will pull a wool over our eyes again.

As we stay here and adapt to the new life we are given by some higher authority, the military continues to come and go and conduct missions as they say to give us a better life.  Who knows how much longer this will take and when things will go back to normal or will they ever?  The past few days I have seen soldiers coming back with battle wounds and even some have died from firefights with other enemy combatants.  No one is saying who is the enemy and it would seem that no clear cut enemy can be determined.  What about the troops overseas in other countries?  Are they aware of what happened back home?  Are they fighting the enemy that caused this type of damage to our country?  Who knows all of this, but the question is how will we, the people, know what has happened and what is to take place.  I guess the only way for us to know is that we talk to someone who would know and demand to know the real truth.  The military won’t speak of what truly happened so we need to find out who will.

It became normal around there that most people would conduct themselves in some type of physical activity after dinner and before lunch.  So Tommy did just that after dinner as Sandra left the cafeteria and went with Cindy to some unknown location.  Tommy was picked to play flag football, but a strange sight seeing armed soldiers in towers above the field about twenty yards away at either end of the field.  Soon that became the norm as well and almost to the point where they would be forgotten they are there until less-than-lethal rounds are fired if a fight is going on or other type of disturbance.  During the last play of the game, under the flood lights that surrounded the field, Tommy was assigned to cover one of the other teams fastest receiver.  Tommy has been holding his own all game and only allowed one pass caught the entire game.

As both teams line up at the line of scrimmage, Tommy looks over to the sideline and sees Greg standing there with his arms crossed.  Tommy then looks back at the receiver that he is covering and they both begin to talk trash to each other just before the play starts.  The offense has to go twenty more yards before scoring the winning touchdown, but Tommy has other intentions as to intercept the ball and take it back the opposite way, if thrown his way.  Suddenly, the ball was snapped and the quarterback dropped back and looked in Tommy’s direction and watching how he was covering his receiver.  The ball was released and thrown high in the air, as if they were running a fade pattern, and both looked up in the air for the ball.  As the ball was coming down both were giving each other elbows and hand checks, but neither gained any ground.  Both jumped up for the ball and Tommy had one hand on the football, but it was snatched from his grips by the receiver.  Touchdown!!

Tommy fell to the ground on his back and watched the winning team celebrate their victory.  The rest of his teammates just left the field shaking their heads in defeat.  A member of the opposite team came over and gave him a hand to get up off the ground and Tommy thanked him.  As both teams walked off the field Tommy fan up to the dude that caught the winning touchdown and shook his hand.  The guy shook his hand back and told him good game and that he can make one hell of a cornerback one day.  Tommy smiled and with kindness thanked him for his compliment.  Tommy walked side by side with him and they just had a pleasant conversation.

TOMMY: Where did you learn to play football like that? If you don’t mind me asking.

JASON: Watching television and just remembering certain moves. He laughed and Tommy followed.  I’m Jason.

TOMMY: I’m Tommy.   Good to meet you.

JASON: I take it your new here?  I say that because I don’t remember seeing you on the field before.

TOMMY: You can say that Sandra and I just got here about three weeks ago.

JASON: Oh, well, welcome to the new world my friend.

TOMMY: New world?  What does that mean exactly?

JASON: As they stop walking and stand face to face.  You’ve seen what it is out there, right?  That’s the new world.

TOMMY: Yeah, about that ummm….what exactly caused all of this?  It seems like Sandra and I are the only two people that don’t know what happened.

JASON: Get in line, kid, you’re in the same boat as everyone else is.  Right now, just speculation on what is going on and how things came this way.

TOMMY: So you have no idea of what happened?  Not even an idea.

Jason looks back up at him from wiping his hands clean and looks around to make sure no one was around to listen to their conversation.

JASON: Well, there is one thing that I noticed when I was out amongst the population.

TOMMY: What?

JASON: I believe it was a few hours after the chaos started, but I’m only speculating on that. A pause then he explained his sighting.  As I was traveling north towards Philadelphia I heard six fighter jets streaming overhead almost at tree top level, going north.

TOMMY: Towards Philadelphia?

JASON: I believe so, but I couldn’t be sure of that.  Everyone got out of their cars to look at them streaking north.  It was a huge traffic jam, but none of the radio stations were working.  About a few hours later people started walking southbound in both directions.  Military tanks came up on the shoulder and allowed some vehicle to turn around to clear the traffic jam.

TOMMY: Whoa, that’s different or added to what I heard.

JASON: What did you hear about it?

TOMMY: Well, the only thing I know is that Philadelphia is mystery.  No one knows what happened since we don’t have anyone here from there.

JASON: I guess we will have to put things together as we learn more about it.  Hey, I want you too meet…..

They got interrupted by someone yelling as they are running by saying that a radio is working in the dining hall.  Tommy and Jason look at each other and take off running towards the dining hall behind the yelling individual.  The dining hall began to fill up quick with people rushing in from all points of the base to listen to the working radio.  Since the chaos radio and television have been basically obsolete up until this point during the aftermath.  Tommy and Jason rush in and was fortunate to reach a seat to where they could hear it.  A few soldiers rush into the dining hall to see what was going on and they could hear the radio as well.  Besides their transmitting radio for missions and objectives this is the first time they have heard outside voices.

A few people turn to the crowd behind them and attempts to get the crowd to quiet down so it can be heard.  One lady up front turns it up so everyone in the back can hear the transmissions.

RADIO VOICE: Ladies and gentlemen if you can hear this transmission this is the first time radio waves are sent over the air since the chaos erupted our democracy.  We only have a few minutes before out transmission goes out and then after that we don’t know when we will be back on air. While he is talking part of his transmission is broken up and distorted and hard to follow.  Someone in the back yells out ‘WHAT IS HE SAYING!?’  Then the transmission becomes clear for a few seconds.  Investigations are being done to find out exactly what happen and what lead up to the events of our sudden life changing event.  We are still not able to confirm or tell you anything of what has happen or what is going on, but we do have news about what is going on in the south.  According to our reports it is stated that the state of Georgia has gone into an emergency session to determine the future of their state.  When more reports come up we will let you know and…………

The transmission stops and noting but static fills the radio and the dining hall spectators.  Slowly the crowd starts to make their way outside and going back to where ever they came from before the news of the radio came about.  Tommy and Jason look at each other and shake each others hand and go their seperate ways.  As soon as Tommy left the dining hall he went to go look for Sandra as he made his way to his room.  Sandra was just coming out of her room as he was going to his and they spoke to each other for a few minutes.

SANDRA: Tommy? How was the game?

TOMMY: We lost by a touchdown, but there is news I don’t know if you heard or not, but we were just listening to a radio transmission in the dining hall.

SANDRA: I heard everyone rushing out of the door, but I decided to stay.  What did you hear?

TOMMY: Something about the state of Georgia in an emergency session to determine the future stability of their state.

SANDRA: What does that mean exactly?

TOMMY: I don’t know exactly, but it sounds kind of mysterious.  Where are you heading to now?

SANDRA: I’m going to go see Cindy.

TOMMY: You okay with that?  You barely know her and I heard something else about what may have happened to Philadelphia.

SANDRA: Cindy is a good person and is looking out for our best interests.

TOMMY: Okay, well, be careful and I will see you later.

Tommy watches Sandra go down the hallway and into Cindy’s room and heard the door close.  He turns around and goes into his room and straight into the shower.  About one hour later he hears a knock at his door and he opens it and sees Jason standing there.

TOMMY: Jason?  What to come in?

JASON: Sure.  I found you through the directory.

TOMMY: We have a directory?

JASON: Well, I have one, but you don’t.  I may share with you at some point.

TOMMY: That would be great.  What brings you here?

JASON: Remember the transmission we heard a while ago?

TOMMY: Yeah, what about it?

JASON: Well, it’s not official yet, but my sources have stated that the state of Georgia are looking to secede from the United States.

TOMMY: WHAT?!  Isn’t that against the constitution?

JASON: You’re right, but they seem to think that the federal government is not worth the support from their people.

TOMMY: When is this decision suppose to come out?

JASON: Maybe within the next week or two.  Maybe sooner, but the way things are we won’t find out until afterwards.

TOMMY: We may find out afterwards, but you found out before hand.  Why is that?

JASON: I don’t give up my sources to people I hardly know.  I have to gain your trust and know that you won’t turn on me.

TOMMY: Turn on you?  You’re making it sound like we partners in a crime spree or something.

JASON: The military finds out that I have the resources to know what is going on outside, they will locked me up, take what I have and probably never see me again.

TOMMY: Okay I can understand that.

Jason walks by Tommy and gets half way out the door and tells him to be safe and watch his back.  Once the door closes Tommy stands there figuring out the clues that he was just given today.  Now he wants to know can he trust the word of Jason, who claims to have a source on the inside, or Greg, who looks rough and has details on what happened.  Are they both telling the truth or is one of them lying to hid what they do know.

NEXT PUBLICATION:  January 2010 (Happy Holidays)

 

2009
12/01
CATEGORY
"Shooting Star" Blog Novel
Leave a comment

“SHOOTING STAR” Chapter V: Political Wisdom

LOCATION: Military Installation

It has been about three days since Tommy and Sandra encountered the militia group, New White Order, in the grassy fields near a military installation.  Now they have been taken into custody by the United States Army, processed, and housed with other civilians that have been detained.  For those three days Tommy and Sandra have been questioned and questioned numerous times about what they have experienced out in the unknown world.  This time being questioned and talked to was not as gruelling as it was with the colonel over at Fort Curtis.  On the fourth day of their detainee they both were escorted, along with several other individuals, to a chow hall for detainees for dinner.  As they enter the chow hall Tommy looks around and notices numerous other people eating in the cafeteria.

Sandra looking around, with her hair giving the image of wet and damaged, being confused to what she is seeing.  She glances back at Tommy and he glances down at her as they continue to move through the line and grabbing their food trey.  Tommy looks at his watch, which has been scratched up and stained with blood, and sees that it is 1830hrs.  He follows Sandra to a long cafeteria table, one that would normally be placed in a high school cafeteria, and sits down starring at his food.  Tommy picks up his fork and pokes at the meat, which resembles baked chicken, and then pokes at the sides of stuffing, green beens, and mashed potatoes.

TOMMY: Since we have been here I feel like we are being treated as prisoners or something to that nature.  This food really sucks and I can’t wait till we leave here.

SANDRA: What makes you so sure that we will ever leave here on our own terms?  This is the real military, Tommy if we try to escape they will have us thrown in jail.

TOMMY: Yeah right, the last time we escaped we had the entire organization on our asses.  I know one thing that as soon as we have the opportunity to get gone we are out.

SANDRA: Tommy? Maybe you have noticed in the past few weeks of what is going on out there.  We haven’t seen civilization the same way we last saw it about a month ago.  We’ve been tracking out there in a wasteland for the longest time and the only thing you can think of is going away.  Going away to what? To where? We don’t even know what else awaits for us so guess what I’m staying right here.

Tommy looks at her with a blank stare and she returns the look and goes back to eating.  Just at that moment two other individuals sit down at the table across from the directly.  The man sitting in front of Tommy was wearing a white tank top and showing tatoos on his neck and left arm.  Tommy looked at his face and saw a scar that extends from outside the man’s right eye down his cheek stopping at the jawbone.  Then Sandra looked at the lady in front of her and noticed her hair was blonde with pink streaks throughout, wedding band on left hand, also wearing a white tank top, and dirt among her face.  Tommy and Sandra both continue eating their food not saying anything more to each other.  The man looks at Tommy and Sandra and then bumps his elbow at the lady sitting next to him knodding his head towards their direction.

The lady stops eating and looks at Tommy and Sandra and looks at the man next to her.  Then, the man takes about two more bites from his fork and begins the conversation with them.

MAN AT TABLE: You guys new here? Silence from both of them.  The man looks at the lady next to him and back at Tommy.  Hey, boy I said are you new to this area? Tommy looks up at him with a fork full of food in his hand.

TOMMY: Yeah, we just got in earlier this week. Goes back to his food.  Then the lady starts talking to the Sandra.

LADY AT TABLE: What about you missy?  You with him? She gets a pleasant look from Sandra and gives her a smile back.

SANDRA: Yes we came together.

MAN AT TABLE: So, where are you guys from?

TOMMY: North New Jersey.

MAN AT TABLE: New Jersey?  How in the hell did you make it down here without getting caught?

TOMMY: He looks at the man with a perplexed look on his face.  Get caught by who?  The NWO?

MAN AT TABLE: Who?  Who in the hell is NWO?

SANDRA: A group called the New White Order captured us in Baltimore about a week ago.  We shot the colonel and escaped and now we are here.

LADY AT TABLE: You mean you killed someone?

TOMMY: Yeah, it was self-defense.  Then we ran for it and almost got captured again.

MAN AT TABLE: This New White Order organization must be a new one created after the blasts.  Obviously, you didn’t run into who I am referring too.

TOMMY: Well, who are you referring to then?  Obviously, we don’t know anything you are talking about.  We don’t even know what happen overall.

MAN AT TABLE: Have you been living under a rock or something?

TOMMY: Looking at the guy dropping his fork and tilted his head to the side a little.  I’m sorry we didn’t have a radio or television with us during our aimlessly travels from New Jersey to here.  We are clueless of what happen.  We were on top of a mountain enjoying the sites of our town below and then, boom everything was gone.

MAN AT TABLE: Looks at Tommy right in the eyes and then turns to the lady next to him.  Wow, you really don’t know what is going on.  Surprisingly, the capital is still standing and hasn’t been attacked yet.

SANDRA: Attacked?  What do you mean?

LADY AT TABLE: Sighs heavily and looks at the man next to her.  Washington, D.C. is one of the few remaining major cities still standing right now.  Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Boston are the cities that were destroyed in the blasts.  As far we know Los Angeles is the only city remaining on the west coast still surviving.

TOMMY: Oh my goodness, what caused the blasts?

MAN AT TABLE: Looks around at the U.S. Army soldiers and security personnel in the cafeteria.  We can’t explain everything here right now.  Come to our room around 2100hrs.  We will feel you in then.  Room 21.

They finish up their food and the mand and lady leave the table.  Tommy and Sandra following them and both groups split going to their individual rooms.  Tommy and Sandra entered into their room, room number 10.  Sandra sat down on the bed and just sat their looking down at the floor as if something was bothering her.

TOMMY: Well, umm…we know a little more of what we didn’t know before.

Sandra began to cry and sob quietly then got a little louder to get Tommy’s attention.  He goes over to comfort her and to see what is bothering her.

TOMMY: What’s wrong Sandra?

SANDRA: I had family in both Philadelphia and Boston.  The only hope of having any family left alive is in Phoenix.  That’s my brother who was in the army, but supposedly got out on a medical.  The last time I spoke to him it was a month before the blasts.

TOMMY: I’m sorry Sandra that you have to experience all of this. Kneels down at her feet rubbing her thighs on the outside.

SANDRA: You never really spoke of your family.  What about them?

TOMMY: Sighs then explains.  Well, besides my mother and father I only knew of two other family members.  My uncle who lives in Texas and my grandfather who lives in Florida.  Both retired from the police force, state troopers from their home state.  They used to live in New Jersey, but a family fued sent them along with everyone else their seperate ways.  I just recently found about them two about two weeks before the blasts.

They both hold on to each other until the time came to meet the man and lady in their room.  The man and woman was in their room until they heard a knock at the door and the man answered.  He looked back at the lady and told her it was the teen couple.  He let them in and offered them a drink and Sandra accepted water as her choice, but Tommy refused.  The man offered to have them sit down on the floor or wherever they chosed to sit.  Once Sandra got her cup of water from the lady that is when the conversation began.

MAN FROM TABLE: My name is Greg and this is Cindy.  Welcome.  Umm..where to begin.

TOMMY: I’m Tommy and this is Sandra.  I suppose you can begin at how did you know about the cities that were destroyed?

GREG: Okay, well, her and I are both from Baltimore and we escaped the blasts hours before.  We were on the road and heard a news reporter speaking of  the U.S. military moving in on a building in downtown Baltimore.  No one back there knew of what might be going on, except maybe a military excercise of some sort.  Then, suddenly the radio went silent and no one was saying anything.

CINDY: We turned to other radio stations and could only hear screaming and gunfire in the background as the reporter was attempting to report the story.  Then suddenly, it was dead completely and all local radio stations were either real static or nothing at all.

SANDRA: Why was the military in the city anyway?

GREG: Alot of us seem to believe that some type of organization was being watched under our noses and that might have been their headquarters.  Of course, all speculation, but I can tell you this from my own eyes.  We were about ten miles away, south, of the city and looked back and saw a mushroom cloud high above the trees.  That’s when we knew that things had gone terrible and that a new era has begun.

TOMMY: What era is that?

CINDY: Post-Nuclear era.  The government has their ways of dealing with it so when something like that happens they can follow their procedures and still able to lead the country.

SANDRA: Same thing happened in Philadelphia and Boston?

GREG: Well, what happened in Boston according to those that came from there was that men came from the sky dressed in all black terrorizing everyone.  The military and police were called to handle the situation and then some looked above and saw one plane high above the city.  Those that were far away saw an object falling out of the plane and then a huge blasts occurred wiping everyone out.

TOMMY: Then, what happened to Philadelphia?

CINDY: No one knows except those that came through the city migrating south.  People keep saying it looked like it was destroyed by a nuclear device and a war zone.  Dead bodies everywhere and the smell was just horrible.

TOMMY: So you telling me that the city of Boston and Baltimore were attcked and Philadelphia just mysteriously destroyed?

GREG: That’s exactly what I’m telling you.  Passing on wisdom from others and what we experienced.  What did you see?

Tommy sat there looking at them both and then looked at Sandra.  After a few moments of silence he then gave them a summary of what they saw.

TOMMY: Well, her and I were on top of a scenic overlook.  It was a cool night and watching the fallen stars.  Just as we were, ummm…leaving I noticed something falling out of the sky that looked completely different than a shooting star.  I watched it as it fell and then we got thrown back several feet from the blasts.  Covered in debris from the blasts, dirt, and other stuff, but I lost a little of my eye sight when the blasts happened.  So my eye sight is a little blurry from a certain distance.  Then we just started migrating south through all of the destruction, especially in Baltimore.

GREG: So you came all the way from North New Jersey not running into anyone?

SANDRA: We did run into one guy who attempted to kill us without warning.  We have no clue who he was because the group NWO killed him before he shot us execution style.

Greg and Cindy stood up looking at them both slowly and looked at each other sighing.  Tommy and Sandra stood up a few seconds later and asked what was wrong.

GREG: The guy who was shooting at you, was he alone?

SANDRA: Yes he was alone.

GREG: Sighs.  The group that I was referring too earlier at dinner is a militia style organization called ARC.

TOMMY: Who in the hell is that?

GREG: The American Rebel Coalition.  A group of disgruntled military veterans and political activists who swear to change the course of America, and to abolish all current laws, and especially rewrite the constitution. I not only know them by other people, but know them personally.  They killed my family and almost killed me.  I took out two of them and ran. He pulls up his tank top and shows them his scare that stretches completely across his midsection.

Tommy and Sandra look at each other in amazement and then looked at Greg and Cindy with a look of oh shit.

NEXT PUBLICATION:  Beginning of December 2009

2009
11/16
CATEGORY
"Shooting Star" Blog Novel
Leave a comment

“SHOOTING STAR” Chapter IV: Where’s the badge?

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

2009
11/02
CATEGORY
"Shooting Star" Blog Novel
Leave a comment

“SHOOTING STAR” Chapter III: Obvious Clues

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

2009
10/15
CATEGORY
"Shooting Star" Blog Novel
2 comments

“SHOOTING STAR” Chapter II: Friend or Foe?

Location: Inner Harbor, Baltimore, Maryland

The current time is approximately 1200hrs., and Sandra and Tommy have now found another survivor of a mysterious disaster that occurred, but they don’t know if the gunman they have encountered is friend or foe.  Now the gunman has marched them to downtown Baltimore near the Inner Harbor and during their walk they see more of the city destroyed and buildings that were supposed to be there not standing anymore.  They were ordered to march through the streets with their hands up as the gunman continuously pointed his rifle in their backs.  Tommy and Sandra would glance at each other the entire time while they are being marched through the streets, but no words were exchanged.  They had no clue of where they were being lead to, but they dared not to ask for the fear of being shot.

After about thirty minutes of walking they found themselves walking near the piers and Navy ship engulfed in flames floating in the water.  The gunman gives them to the order to stop and face the water.  They followed his orders and then got pushed closer to the water to the very edge of the dock.  They were then told to get on their knees and keep their hands up and don’t move.  At this point Sandra began to shed tears and the positive knowledge of her dying with a execution style shot in the back of the head just overwhelmed her.  Tommy closed his eyes thinking that he will be first and waiting for the shot to the back of the head and him go falling into the contaminated water.  As they waited quitely on their knees to be executed it remained silent behind them and was wondering what was the gunman waiting for.  Tommy began to figure that the gunman lost the nerve to continue with the act and probably left the scene, but didn’t attempt to get up and find out.

So Tommy and Sandra continued to wait there on their knees for about another few more minutes, but nothing happened.  Tommy looked at Sandra and she looked back at him and they began to lower their arms slowly by their side.  Tommy signals to her that he will stand up and see what is going on behind him and she nodded in fear of something might happen.  Tommy stands up very slowly and can feel the knee part of his pants soaked from the rain that occured earlier in the day.  He stood up completely still facing the harbor waters and slowly turned around to see what was behind him and he was shocked to see what was there.  He looked down and saw the gunman laying dead, but no blood could be seen on or around the body.  He looked back up and saw at least five men dressed in all chemical gear, gas masks, and two white suits in two plastic wraps.

He reached down and told Sandra it was okay to stand up and she followed his instructions.  She stood up and turned around and saw the same thing Tommy was looking at and her knees on her pants were soaked as well.  The five men standing there with maching guns hanging from their shoulders directed the two to follow them.  Tommy and Sandra were hesitant in following the men, but they did and as they walked they had one in front of them, one of either side of them and two directly behind them.  They followed the men around a corner and saw a military hummvvee, black, parked with a sixth man standing on top manning a .50 caliber machin gun.  The five men guided them into the hummvvee and told the driver to pull off to the location to have them decontaminated.  They sat in the backseat and as they pulled away they stared at the five men as they stared back and continued on through the streets of the rubbled city.  Tommy and Sandra both looked out of their windows and just saw the rubble of the city landscape going them by and burned out vehicles and downed bridges.

After a while the landscape began to look the same until they arrived to what looked like the headquarters of where they were going.  They approached the main gate and saw a sign that stated “WELCOME TO FORT CURTIS” as they passed it.  They remained quite the entire time during the transport and saw other people walking around in gas masks preparing to go out and others dressed in woodland camo doing hard labor, working on vehicles, or conducting drills and training.  They entered a building and once they drove up they saw people dressed in all yellow chemical suits and gas masks awaiting for their arrival.  The hummvvee stopped and they got out and directed over to the first station to fill out a card with their name, date of birth, and social security number.  After they filled it out they were then directed to go behind their respective curtains and stip down completely.  From that point on they couldn’t see each other until they were at the end of the decontamination phase where they receive new clothes and their own bio-suite.  They saw each other at the end of the decontamination phase and Sandra’s hair was completely wet and hanging down and naturally curled.  Tommy’s hair was completely drenched and static took affect because his hair had a hard time staying down on his scalp.

Two men in dress uniforms lead them to a dark room and they saw two chairs in the middle of the room.  Once they were lead into the room the door closed behind them and the ceiling lights came on, but were very dull.  They could see a projector in front of them and the screen already down, but saw no one else in the room.  Sandra breaks the silence for the first time in the last couple of hours.

SANDRA: Tommy? Do you know what is going on or what is happening?

TOMMY: I haven’t the slightess clue.  Just go with the flow of it.

Suddenly the projector turns on and caused Sandra to jump in fear, but she regained her composure.  A video appeared on the screen and they began to watch it and trying to make sense of it as it plays.  The opening scene of the video was a group of people fighting amongst each other with sticks, bats, and other weapons causing serious harm to people and killing them.  Then suddenly shots rang out and they saw the people falling like flies receiving gunshots in the head and upper torso of the body.  They watch in horror as they are looking at this video as if it was really happening in front of them live.  Suddenly the video goes black for a few seconds and then returns showing dead bodies of people with radiation burns, animals dead in the street still on fire, and when the video zoomed out they saw an entire city engulfed in flames and smoke just flowing into the air blocking the sunlight.

The video lasted about three minutes and they were in horror the entire time watching the video.  When it finished the room got dark and the lights came back on and a person in a military style uniform was standing behind them.  Tommy and Sandra looked at each other and saw the gentlemen in the back standing there with his hands in front of him.  He looks at them and walks towards the front and pulls up the projector screen and moves the projector out of the way.  He stands there in front of them and they get a good look at his dressed uniform and see ribbons galore on his uniform.  He looks at them and they look at him back and he begins to speak to them.

COLONEL JAMES J. WALKER: Good afternoon, my name is Colonel James J. Walker, Commander of Fort Curtis Security Forces and liaison officer.  I welcome you to Fort Curtis and I assure you that you are safe here and will be well taken care of.  The video you just saw was footage from Annapolis, Maryland and the chaos that ensued there.  This is the same type of chaos and sadly the results that happened in Annapolis are occurring everywhere.  Every survivor we find we show them this video and unfortunately we have not come across any except today, you two.  You will be asked questions to help us know what is out there and what you have encountered.  My men behind you will lead you to your sleeping quarters where you can get some rest and soon after you will be fed.

Colonel Walker motions to the two men behind them to lead them to their sleeping quarters and to report back to him.  Tommy and Sandra are lead to their sleeping quarters and when they entered into their own rooms the only thing they saw was a cot, radio, one window, and a make-shift bathroom.  Sandra walked in and heard the door behind her close and she slammed her stuff down on the floor in disguss.  Tommy entered his room next door to her and he wasn’t happy either and threw his belongings across the room hitting the wall next to the window.  He paces the room running his hands through his hair trying to figure out what is going on and hopefully if he pays attention he can figure that mystery out.  At this point all he knows is that him and Sandra nearly died from a mysterious gunman who was killed by five men wearing chemical suits and gas masks, and the next thing he knows he’s at a military style base being debriefed on chaos going on in the outside world and people dying.  Is there a virus going around and the military is ordered to control the situation by deadly force? If so, why the chemical suits and masks?  Who would know exactly what is going and what will definitely happen to them?

SOLDIER: (Knocked on the door and it opened) Tommy Harrison, Colonel Walker will be seeing you.

-End of Chapter II-

Next Posting: October 15, 2009 (Chapter III: Obvious Clues)

2009
10/01
CATEGORY
"Shooting Star" Blog Novel
3 comments

“SHOOTING STAR” Chapter I: The Sky is Falling!

 LOCATION: Baltimore, Maryland

At about 5:15am Tommy and Sandra find themselves approaching the city limits of Baltimore, Maryland coming down U.S. Route 1.  They approach an intersection shortly after crossing the city limits and see a huge pile of rubble approximately 20 feet in height and maybe about 50 feet wide.  Obviously the pile is blocking their view ahead and they know the only way to around it is to climb the pile, which maybe unstable.  Tommy looks at Sandra and encourages her to follow him up the rubble to the top.  Tommy begins first and then a few steps behind Sandra followed up the pile.  A few times they slid back down the pile a few inches getting poked and cut by pieces of glass and metal sticking out.  After a few minutes of struggling to climb the pile Tommy makes it finally to the top and pauses.  Sandra looks up at him viewing his rear side and is struggling to climb to the top to meet him.  She continues to climb breathing hard and calls out his name at least a few times, but he never responds.

Sandra gets to the top and grabs his arm and calls to him as she stands up.  Tommy was still facing forward and a tear streamed down his face and Sandra looked perplexed until she faced the same direction.  When she faced forward she was looking at the same scene he was and she placed her hands over her mouth in disbelief.  As they both analyze what they were looking at she grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard as he did her hand as well.  About 100 feet in front of them were several vehicles on fire and all the buildings that followed the road in front of them were either completely destroyed or completely in flames.  They can feel the heat of the many fires from the scene in front of them as they still struggle to make sense of it all.  Tommy looks up in the sky with tears still streaming down his face and most of the air above them was filled with smoke, the smell of burnt rubber, cement, and metal invading their smelling senses. 

Tommy looks at his watch and sees that it is almost 6am and that the sun is trying to peak itself over the once city landscape.  With the smoke filled air the rays and sunlight struggles to peep through, but since the air is so thick it remains to be dark on the ground.  They make their way slowly off of the rubble and back on the main street slowly making their way through the maze of destruction.  After about a half hour of walking down the main strip Sandra complains about her feet hurting and the need of wanting to sit down for a few minutes.  Tommy locates a bench around the corner on a side street and guides her over to it.  The sun is well above the horizon and some sunlight is able to peep through and cast itself along the ground.  They sit down and get themselves together as they rest their legs and feet from their long extensive journey from northern New Jersey. 

As they were sitting their Tommy stands up as if he heard something that was strange to his ears.  Sandra calls to him and ask him what was wrong, but he didn’t respond to her like he did at the pile of rubble.  She began to raise her voice to get his attention, but he put up his hand and told her to be quite.  Sandra is listening very carefully, but hears nothing but the wind gently blowing through the air. 

TOMMY:  Wow.

SANDRA:  What’s wow?  I don’t hear a damn thing, Tommy.

TOMMY:  That’s the point Sandra.  No planes, cars, or train blowing its horn.  We hear nothing of any type of civilization around us. 

SANDRA:  You’re right.  No type of civilization whatsoever around us.  This is real spooky, Tommy.  What happened?

TOMMY:  I don’t know, Sandra.  Everywhere we go we see a different world.  I can only hope that we can find something or someone that will somehow explain all of this.  We go from watching shooting stars to seeing cities demolished before our eyes.  You ready?

SANDRA:  Yeah, but lets see if we can find some food or something.  I’m hungry and thirsty as hell.

They begin to walk again down the main strip heading southbound still looking for any place that would look like they may have food stored inside.  At one point they walked and looked up and could see the sky clearly, but saw grey clouds and thunder amongst the clouds.  Sandra asks him if that was a storm coming and he replied with a maybe, but knowing that shelter will be needed soon he continued down the street quickly.  They kept looking around and they began to think that they might not find any food or water since every building they see is basically crumbled to the ground.  Just as they begin to loose hope they get to an intersection and see a building that is partially still standing with its windows blown out and a truck partially cinged.  They make their approach towards the building and heard glass breaking loudly as if it happened right next to them.  They both stopped in their tracks and quickly ran towards the burnt truck to hide. 

Sandra asks Tommy does he see anyone and he acknowledges that he doesn’t see anyone.  Tommy lays on the ground and peeps around the rear tires and it was silence.  He continues to peep around the rear tires and tells Sandra to stay put.  He slowly makes his way out from behind the truck and suddenly he hears more glass breaking.  He dives back behind the truck and tells Sandra to stay quite.  He leans over past the rear tires again and all he could see is darkness beyond the busted out windows and the front doors.  Then a pair of feet wearing black boots emerge from the darkness and stops.  Tommy slips back behind the truck a little bit and whispers to Sandra that he sees someone coming out of the store.  He leans over past the rear tire again and watches the feet begin to walk towards the main strip down the sidewalk.  He follows the feet until the whole person was revealed and all he could see was the entire back side of the person.  The individual is wearing all black with a black hoodie on with the hood on their head.  He waits until the person clears the corner and out of sight and that is when he grabbed Sandra by the hand to follow them.

Tommy and Sandra slowly make their way towards the corner and peep around and he can see the person walking down the street.  They had at least a three block head start, but Tommy still follows the person with his eyes and wait until they clear another corner.  Tommy urges Sandra to hurry up and they pick up the pace a little bit jogging over debris and seeing the storm above them closing in fast.  They both reach the corner where the individual made a right, but when he peeped around their was no sign of the individual anywhere.  Tommy slowly stands up careful not to expose himself looking around for the individual.  He steps out and stands in middle of the street filled with demolished and destroyed cars still burning.  Sandra still hiding behind the corner looking at Tommy crazy of why he is standing out in the open all exposed.

He looks at her and waves her out from around the corner to join him.  She hesitates for a few seconds and slowly makes her approach towards him watching her surroundings.

SANDRA:  Where did he go, Tommy?

TOMMY:  The hell if I know.  I don’t know if the person was a man or woman, but whoever it was they disappeared very quickly.

Suddenly, machine gun fire rang out and rounds rapidly hit the ground around them kicking up debris and almost hitting them.  They both went dodging behind the closes object, which ended up being a shell of a car.  Sandra clutched to Tommy’s arm and expressed her fear to him as rounds hit the car and the wall  near them.  The gunfire stopped for a few minutes and Tommy poked his head up exposing his eyes only and the gunfire rang out once more.  He ducked back down for safety and held Sandra in his arms to protect her.  With the gunfire breaking through the silence it echoed through the destroyed landscape making it sound like machine gunfire was happening elsewhere.  Then again the gunfire stopped and this time they waited about ten minutes before making a move.  Tommy and Sandra point to an object across the street near the building where the gunman was firing from.  Sandra begins to have second thoughts, but with the risk and daring of Tommy’s personality he rushes across the street to the unrecognizable object.  No gunfire erupted and Tommy waved his hand at Sandra to come on and again she hesitated to do so, but found the courage to rush across the street.  Once she met up with him they ran into an opening of the building and hid behind the wall looking behind them.  Tommy saw no one behind him and was satisfied to keep going.

Once in the building they began to peep around, but couldn’t see anything since it was mostly dark.  Then suddenly they heard a loud thunder and the rain poured out of the sky and made it seem like they were going to see a flood happen.  They find a set of stairs and climb them to the second level, what was left of the second level from the fires.  They find a corner to settle in and Tommy leans his body up agains the wall with Sandra sitting between his legs and her back leaning up against him.  He wraps his arms around her to keep her warm, but knowing that the gunman is still out there he tells her that he will stay awake as she sleeps.  She crosses her arms and leans her head back into his chest and falls asleep almost immediately.  Tommy sits there and has a good view of the pouring rain and the sound of the rain falling calms him down and slows his hear rate.  Reality hits him and he realizes that the life that he once knew has been destroyed and that they must live in a new world.  Suddenly, Tommy is awaken by a sense of someone near them and he sees the gunman standing over them with his rifle pointed at them.  Sandra wakes up and is frightened by the sight of the rifle in her face and Tommy clutches her tighter. 

GUNMAN:  Who the hell are you?

 

2009
09/15
CATEGORY
"Shooting Star" Blog Novel
1 comment

“SHOOTING STAR” Prelude

SHOOTING STAR!

Tommy pulls up in front of Sandra’s house and honks the horn for her to come out.  Sandra peeps out of her front window and quickly closes it and comes out of the front door.  Quickly comes down the front steps and gets into the car with Tommy, who owns a blacked out Chevy Impala.  Tommy pulls off and one neighbor watches them as they pull off into the night heading towards the city.  The radio clock in the car is reading 11:30pm and Sandra smiles and looks at him.

SANDRA: Where are you taking me?

TOMMY: Somewhere where we can be alone outside enjoying the cool weather, overlooking the city.

SANDRA: How sexy.

Sandra sits there in the passenger seat and watches the people in the city walking down the street.  She sees that Tommy is getting futher and further away from the nightlife in the city and towards a mountain region that partially surrounds the city.  She sits there and remains quite and enjoys the cool breeze, wind blowing in her face coming through the passenger window.  Finally Tommy pulls up to an entrance to the scenic overlook and glances at her and smiles.  As he proceeds further down the road to the scenic lot they come up on to the closed gate.

SANDRA: Damn!  We don’t have the key to get in.

TOMMY: What? Don’t worry about getting a key.  I have bolt cutters in the trunk. He gets out and walks towards the trunk and pulls out the bolt cutters.  He walks up to the gate and in his second attempt to cut the bolt lock he succeeds and they proceed into the scenic lot.

As soon as he pulls into a spot facing the city they get out of the car and walk up to the edge.  The sight was beautiful from their persepective, seeing the entire city and the cars going through the landscape.  She sighs deeply with a big smile on her face and lets him know how beautiful the thought of bringing her up there was.  He smiles back at her and they kiss each other and do so for a moment.

They walk backwards towards the car and lean on the hood.  She grabs his hand and they interlock their fingers and look at each other in the eyes.  Tommy looks up and points to her some of the constellations above their heads.

TOMMY: I figured tonight would be a great night since the sky is clear and we can see the stars alot easier from up here.  Those city lights drown out the sight in the sky and hopefully we can see a falling star and make a wish upon it.

SANDRA: Oh that would be beautiful.  I already know what my wish is, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to wish over and over again.

TOMMY: My wish is basically true already, but I will wish that it stays true for a very, very long time.

They lean towards each other and kiss on the lips and his hand gently caresses her face.  They pull back from each other and he looks up and sees something moving in the sky.

TOMMY: I think that’s either a satellite or the space station.

SANDRA: WOW!  I’ve never seen the space station in the sky.  Is that what it normally looks like on a clear night like this?

TOMMY: Yep.  I think we are suppose to see it tonight since it is clear.

SANDRA: AWESOME!

They bring their heads back down and look over the city and just watching life living in the far distance.  Then Sandra spotted a shooting star in the very far distance past the city landscape and pointed out to Tommy, but it burned up before they could make a wish.  Then another one was seen falling above them and it was spotted by Tommy out of the corner of his eyes.  They followed it and made their wishes and then it burnt up in the atmosphere.

SANDRA: We did it!

TOMMY: Yeah we did and our wishes shall remain the same.  Always together.

As they walked back towards the car Tommy spotted another one, but it looked real bright to be a shooting star.  He saw how fast it was travelling downward and pointed out to Sandra.  She turned her head and saw the same thing coming down as well and they figured it was a shooting star that is bigger than normal.  They continued to wach it and then a sudden bright flash of light caused them to cover their faces and duck for cover.  Partially blind Tommy looks up and hears a sonic boom and sees a mushroom cloud growing over the their city.

Down below they both could see the city getting swallowed up by fire and intense heat.  Sandra covers up her mouth in disbelief and immediately starts crying in fear as Tommy tries to comfort her.  They both watched in horror as the fire continued to spread in a circular motion wiping everything out reducing it to a burning rumble.  Then they see and begin to feel the intense heat of the fire quickly coming upon them and he grabs her hand and runs towards a ditch on the rear end of the scenic lot.  They both jump down inside the ditch and cover themselves with earth debris.

When the coast was clear they both raised up out of the ditch covered in mud, dirt, and other natural things.  They slowly walk over towards the cliff they were once standing at and see that Tommy’s car was practically burned.  Their coughing and hacking up things out of their lungs and still slowly making their way towards the cliff.  As they made it to the cliff they looked over where the city was once standing alive with full of people is now a city of complete fire, and chaos.  Sandra breaks down crying and falls to her knees as Tommy stands their in disbelief seeing that his city was destroyed beyond recognition.  That is when he began to guess was the country at war and if so who struck first?  He knew finding answers would be extremely tough and with radiation in the air their life expectancy has just dropped more than 50%.

2009
09/08
CATEGORY
"Shooting Star" Blog Novel
Leave a comment