ADAM

 

Wednesday January 15 - 0009 MST

Two hours and twenty-one minutes until Turbocharger activates

 

"Adam!"

Getting my name screamed across the hangar wasn't something I was used to. When I looked up to see who was calling my name, it was just in time to see Jessica run right into me. She wrapped her arms around me and buried her head into my chest. All I could think of to say was "Oh. Hi."

Now it wasn't like I was ungrateful for the attention from a beautiful woman. It was just that I wasn't really used to it. You have to understand where I came from. A few weeks ago—at least according to my perspective it was just a few weeks—I was the epitome of the kind of guy pretty girls avoided. Now I was well over six feet tall and a superhero. And Jessica had her face buried into the pile of muscle that most guys only dream of having. "Adam, I missed you." We'd only met and started spending time together just a few days ago. But those four words explained everything. "Things have gone so crazy while you were away."

The simple life she'd had sitting at a computer making graphics for PowerPoint slides had been torn to shreds and like everyone else she needed to know what was going to happen next. More importantly she needed a pillar of stability to lean on. As it turned out that pillar was me. I held onto her because I was sure that's what she needed. "Look, everything's going to be alright. The Colonel and me are back now, and we're not going to leave you. We're going to take care of all this."

It felt like I'd said those words a million times in the last hour. But everyone in the hangar needed to hear me say them. You could feel the anxiety in the air from that mass feeling of not knowing what was supposed to be done. Losing the Underground to monsters was not something anyone was mentally prepared for. Well, maybe besides Colonel Sterling. That guy seemed to expect the worst case in every scenario.

"So what do you think is going to happen next, Adam?"

Jessica took her face away from my chest long enough to look up at me with pleading eyes. I'd forgotten how pretty her eyes were. But I saw she needed answers. Just like everyone did. "The Colonel has a plan. I'm pretty sure he wants us to retake the Underground. And speaking of him…"

A pair of desert tan humvees rolled into the hangar with Colonel Sterling in the lead vehicle. All the muttering and murmuring stopped as he climbed out and onto the hood of the gun truck. He called for us to gather around him and no one needed extra prodding to do that. We all wanted to hear whatever news he had for us.

With Jessica still clutching me like a life preserver we quieted down and listened.