Jacqueline Druga - Protocol One

“Yeah, the best laid plans of mice and men, huh?”

“Where were you when it hit?”

“Luckily, I caught a ride with a fellow named George who was trying to get to New York. We had made it deep to a good spot when the car died. We were about twenty miles from Greenbrier Mountain resort.”

“Oh, Gil, that was smart thinking.” I said. “Really.”

“Yeah, by the time we made it. The fire bombs were sailing from the sky. Trees were going up left and right. It got hot and George suffered some really bad burns. But we made it. They let us in and we waited out the heat there. Once the heat starting cooling and the fires dying, we knew we had a couple days and that was it. It got too dark.”

“You left the safety of Greenbrier?”

“Yes, but that didn’t last too long. I have been fortunate. People rise to the occasion. A family in West Virginia took us in under the condition that we helped chop as much wood as humanly possible up until the cold came. Chopping wood in the dark is not easy, but we did it. That was where I was up until a few days ago.”

“What happened to George?”

Gil lowered his head. “He died. He caught pneumonia, we figured from all the smoke and his burns got infected. We tried to help him. Hell, Anna, the father of that family had it together. Plus he had worked for a processed food company and was well stocked. He let me borrow his old pickup and that got me right outside of Pittsburgh. I walked the last twenty or so miles. Took two days.”

I laid my hand over his, sipped my beverage then stood up. “This place, Gil. I don’t know what the other places are like, but this one is a life saver. The work you did, I can’t thank you enough. The little special touches. The pictures. Everything. You had it planned, like you always did.”

“Except to lose my son.”

Instinctively my head dropped.

“We’ll get through this Anna.”

“I know.”

“And to pass the time, there are a bunch of Easter eggs planted here. By that, I don’t mean real eggs.”

I took a moment and after composing myself again, I looked at Gil. “You deserve to be there. This is your place. It works well. We’re really clicking here and rolling. We are getting things ready for the long term.”

“I see that.” Gil stood. “I just…” he chuckled. “I’m trying to figure out how all these people ended up here. Not that there are a ton, but more than I thought there would be. And none of them look any the worse for wear, so that tells me they’ve been here since the onset.”

“Well, you know me.”

“Never can say no?” Gil asked.

“Yep. Some had a person they couldn’t leave behind. And well, it was a good thing we had this many people. When it got hot and the fire fell from the sky, people came here. I let them in. Against what a lot of the others wanted, I let them in.”

Gil stepped to me. “You make it sound like it backfired on you.”

“It did. And again, against what I was told, I trusted these people and they turned on us. We fought them.”

“They’re gone right?”

“Oh, they’re gone alright. One adult remains. The kids, we didn’t send them out. We wanted to send the woman out, but I made the decision to let her stay until the weather warmed up.”

Gil folded his arms and nodded, impressed. “So you’re leading this place.”

“Kind of like a group effort that doesn’t always go well.”

“That’s because a clear cut leader and decision maker must emerge. If not, there will always be arguments and chaos. You stepped forward.”

“Not my cup of tea though.”

“I know. You always were a ‘let things take care of themselves’ person.” He reached out and pulled me into him, embracing me tightly and I felt snug within his hold. “I’m positive though, you are doing a great job.”

“We lost one of our security guys, though. Brutally.”

Gil stepped back. “At least you thought to name a few people security.”

“No, no.” I waved out my hand. “They were one of the guys that were on duty when we arrived.”

“Tom? I saw Tom…”

“No, Abe. One of the guys you had here.”

“Anna… the only person I knew that was going to be here was Tom. Until that decision was made for him to get here before you, you were to be the first to arrive.”

“That was the plan?”

“Yes.”

“But Tony said…”

“Ah,” Gil interrupted. “What did Tony say?”

“They were part of the plan. The team.”

“Now I am getting concerned.”

I gave a quirky and nervous smile. “Why?”

“Because the team was you, Jackson and four others. You brought the others along, I get that. But you keep mentioning this Tony.”

“You say ‘Tony’ like you don’t know him. Tony Garrison of GSS.”

“I know Tony Garrison of GSS.”

“Well, that’s who I’m talking about.”

“The one that helped carry me in?” Gil asked.

“Yes.”

“That wasn’t Tony Garrison. I know Tony Garrison.”

“Well, you only met him once so maybe you’re wrong. It was six years ago.”

Gil laughed. “I met Tony more than once. And even if I hadn’t, I would know for sure that guy wasn’t Tony. Because that guy that helped carry me in, is not a sixty year old black man. The Tony Garrison I know… is.”

To say Gil’s words took me by surprise was an understatement. All expression had dropped from my face and my mind swam in a world of confusion.

What was going on?

Everything I knew up to that point was suddenly tossed out the window with the arrival of Gil. I needed to handle it, to find out what was going on, so I told Gil that I would be back. He offered to come along with me but I declined his offer. It was something I had to do on my own and he respected that. He gave his word he wouldn’t say anything until I had the chance to talk to Tony or whatever his name was.

Luckily, Duke came in with more clothes and he sat with Gil.

Last I had seen Tony he was in the office going through Gil’s bag. Having always been a trusting person, I was thrown for a loop and placed in a state that I rarely experienced. My mind spun and I double and triple thought everything.

Starting with Tony staying clear once Gil made it inside.

Did he know Gil would expose him? He offered to go with me to tell Gil about Jackson. But was that an offer he knew I would refuse?

What about him going through Gil’s things? It didn’t completely make sense before, but as I made my way to his office, it bothered me. Even more so when I arrived at the office and not only was Tony gone, but Gil’s bag was gone as well.

Panic hit me and I believed for a second that Tony, knowing he was busted in some sort of lie, took off. Hurriedly, I went into the Switch Room.

“Hey, Tom. Did Tony leave?”

“Leave?” He asked.

“Yeah, the bunker.”

Tom laughed. “And go where? Plus, he left his kid if he did.” He pointed to a monitor that showed Nelly with Joie.

I exhaled in relief.

“That was a really odd question, Anna.” Tom said.

“Tom, GSS hired you, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Had you met Tony before we got here?”

“Oh, sure, a couple of times. It was here. It was a good couple months before the comet that I saw him last.”

“And you have always known him as Tony Garrison from the GSS?”

Tom’s face turned white and he turned his chair, lost his smile, and faced the switchboard.

“Tom?”

“Anna…” He lifted his hands, not looking at me. “I really need to keep watching outside, especially since Peter is on his break.”

“Did you ever see Tony Garrison, the head of GSS?”