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The sun starts to shine through the window in the back bedroom as Alex and Danny begin waking up. They get up, get dressed and head out into the kitchen to find Dean sitting at the table. There is a plate of pancakes and bacon on the table and a jug of orange juice on the table. Danny and Alex sit down and put some pancakes and bacon on their plates.
“Where is Uncle Nick?” Alex asks.
“He had to go to work early,” Dean replies. “He is going to start putting our plan into action and get the attention of the Colonel. Now, eat up. We have to get moving ourselves.”
Alex and Danny eat their breakfast as Dean finishes drinking his orange juice. Alex and Danny repack their knapsacks. Dean grabs his knapsack and locks and closes the door behind him while Alex and Danny get on their motorcycles. Dean gets on his motorcycle.
“Alex,” Dean says. “You take the lead and get us to the tracking device so we can switch back to the real trackers and head to the train yard and check in with the AoL.”
“Okay,” Alex replies. Alex pulls up his tracking app and sees that the car with his tracker on it is still sitting at the apartment building. “The car is still parked. We should go and get my tracker off.”
They start their motorcycles and ride off down Johnson Ferry road, heading back to Northside Hospital, where they will turn south and take Peachtree Dunwoody Street to the apartment building. As they approach the apartment building, they see the Ford Focus pull out of the parking lot and turn towards them. They let the car pass them and then turn around on the street. They stay back about a half mile so as not to draw suspicion by the driver that she is being followed. The car stops at a traffic light near a school. Alex pulls up next to the car like he is going to turn right. When the driver is looking at the traffic light, Alex grabs the tracker and puts it in his pocket. He turns, being followed closely by Danny and Dean.
Alex drives down the road a little and pulls into the school parking lot. Danny and Dean pull in next to him as he pulls out the aluminum foil containing the AoL trackers. He opens it and tosses one to each of them and puts one on his motorcycle, under the gas tank. He then takes his tracker and puts it into the aluminum foil and closes it. Dean and Danny put their trackers under their gas tanks as well.
“That was close,” Danny says. “I think that car was on its way back to the hospital, which would’ve caused too many questions potentially by the AoL.”
“Yeah,” Dean says. “Now, let’s adjust our route so it seems like we chose this direction on purpose and get ourselves back down to the train yard.”
Alex, Danny, and Dean continue down the road past the school and drive through a couple of subdivisions before ending up back on Peachtree Street in Brookhaven. They get on the highway and head to Woodland Hills and the train yard. After riding for a while, they pull up to the gated entrance of the train yard where two guards are standing watch.
“We’re here to see Cleopatra,” says Dean. “We have some information for her.”
“Tell me the information and I’ll make sure she gets it,” says one of the guards.
“Don’t play around with me,” Dean says. “Cleopatra sent us to get this information for her, and we will deliver it to her. Not some underling who wants to climb the terrorist corporate ladder. Now, open this gate and let us through or you can explain to Cleopatra that you turned us away. I’m sure Anthony and Marcus would love to add you to the firing range as a new target.”
The guard shakes his head for a moment and reluctantly tells the other guard, “let them pass.”
“Thank you for your cooperation,” says Dean. “I’ll be sure to let Cleopatra know just how helpful you’ve been.”
Dean, Alex and Danny ride through the open gate and park their bikes behind the main building. They park their motorcycles and dismount them. Anthony walks out of the door and smiles at Dean, Alex, and Danny.
“Well, hello there,” Anthony says. “How nice of you to visit us. I’m guessing you are here for some particular reason, Mr. Robertson.”
“Yes, Anthony,” Dean replies. “We are here for a reason. We found out some information that I feel Cleopatra will find useful.”
“And what type of information could you have that you think is going to be useful?”
“Information about a couple of the test subjects in a particular book.”
“Oh really?” Anthony says sarcastically. “Well then, let’s get you right in and you can tell her your oh-so-important news.”
Anthony steps to the side of the door and points his arm to the open door. Dean, Alex, and Danny walk up the stairs towards the door. Anthony suddenly stops them.
“But before you go in, let’s just get any weapons you may have. Like those pistols and knives to start.”
“You don’t trust us?” Danny asks.
“No, I don’t. Now, take out your weapons and put them in that tote over there. Or there is no way in hell you’re going to see Cleopatra.”
Dean, Alex, and Danny take the pistols out of their holsters and put them in the tote. They remove their knives and put them in the tote as well. Dean turns around with his arms outstretched signaling that he is unarmed now. Danny and Alex do the same.
“Very good, boys,” Anthony says. “You may go see her now.”
Dean, Alex, and Danny walk through the door towards the metal door to the control room. As they approach, the metal door opens and Cleopatra is standing there. She is smiling at the three of them.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Robertson. Alex. Danny,” Cleopatra asks. “What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
“Cleopatra,” Dean says. “We have some information about the book that we discovered that we wanted to get to you as soon as we could.”
“About the book, you say,” she says.
“Yes. We found some information about a couple of the test subjects.”
“And how did you possibly figure out who the test subjects were? The book didn’t mention any names that I’ve found yet.”
“Alex,” Dean says. “Will you please share what you found?”
“Yes, dad,” Alex says. Taking out his PDA and looking at Cleopatra, “from what I was able to read in the book, prior to us bringing it to you, I recall some notation from a Dr. Charles Evanson. Now, dad remembers that doctor used to work at Northside Hospital, so we went there and I, um, accessed a hole in their computer system’s firewall and found a patient list as well as digital notes of Dr. Evanson. I did a cross-reference between his patient list and the names mentioned in his notes to find any gaps in information.”
“A hole in their computer system, huh?” Cleopatra says.
“Yes, ma’am. They haven’t updated their security protocols in a couple of years per HIPAA guidelines, and I happen to know what protocols HIPAA has used for the past decade,” Alex says smiling. “So, from the gaps in information that I discovered, I then pulled out the names of those that most closely fit the timeframe, age, and descriptions of some of the test subjects.”
“And how do you remember anything from the book that you only saw for a short period of time?” Anthony asks.
“I have a photographic memory,” Alex says. “Test subjects Alpha 2 and Alpha 6 match a couple of patients by the names of Jerry Sanders and Thomas Bales. According to the medical examiner’s database, Jerry Sanders passed away three years ago from complications associated with Lupus. Thomas Bales has no record with the medical examiner and very limited information in Dr. Evanson’s records. So, according to the GBI system, Mr. Bales last known address is in Woodstock.”
“Very impressive Alex,” Cleopatra says with a smile. “Very impressive indeed. You are everything that I had heard about you when it comes to computers. I hope, though, that you don’t think about digging around trying to find out any information about me that you shouldn’t because it could cost you and your family the ultimate price.”
“No, ma’am. I only talk to the computers that I had to talk to in order to get the information I needed for this mission.”
“I’m glad we understand each other,” she says. “Now, Mr. Robertson. You and your sons are definitely proving to be of some value to our little cause. I’m so very happy that is the case. As much as I’d love to give Marcus and Anthony some new playthings for the firing range, right now, I can see you three being of great value to us.”
“Thank you, Cleopatra,” Dean says. “I hope that we have proven our sincerity about what we are hoping your group and us can do together to take down the Colonel.”
“Yes, Mr. Robertson. I can see your sincerity thus far and I can see us doing some really important work together. Now, please, go and take a break and get something to eat or get some rest. I will talk with you more in a couple hours.”
“What about Mr. Bales in Woodstock?” asks Danny.
“Oh, don’t you worry about him. I’m going to send a few guys to go and retrieve him and invite him to dinner with me.”
“Something to eat would be nice,” Dean says. “We will go to the chow hall and grab something to eat.”
Dean, Alex, and Danny turn and walk out the door of the building and across the courtyard to the chow hall. Alex glances back and sees that Anthony is following behind them at a good distance. ‘Guess he’s making sure we go where dad said we were going,’ thinks Alex. They go into the chow hall and walk to the back and get some food and sit down at one of the tables. There are seven guards in the chow hall, scattered at three tables.
“Looks like she bought my story,” Alex whispers.
“Yeah,” Dean whispers. “Good attention to detail to help make it believable. Now, hopefully, she’ll keep buying it so we can continue with the plan. We need to find out if they have already made the virus and if so, where it is so we can destroy it.”
“Alex and I will do a little snooping around while you talk to her later,” Danny whispers. “There were a couple buildings near the back, not far from the firing range that I want to check out. They seemed a bit off.”
“Okay,” Dean says softly. “Just be careful and don’t draw unwanted attention to what you’re doing. You know the drill.”
“Got it.”
“Remember your training. Keep track to note if anything has changed around here since we were here before, like personnel or anything else,” Dean says.
“Will do, dad,” Danny says softly.
Dean, Alex, and Danny finish eating their meals and put their trays up. They walk out of the door and turn towards the firing range. A guard stops them and asks, “Where are you three going?”
“I thought we would get a little practice in at the firing range for a bit, before I have to meet with Cleopatra and Marcus,” Dean replies.
“Where’s your escort?”
“Escort? We just left a meeting with Cleopatra and came over here to get something to eat. Now we have some time to kill so we thought we’d stay busy and out of everyone’s way by getting a little shooting practice in. Is that a problem?”
“You should have an escort so you aren’t walking around and going into places you shouldn’t go.”
“Well, if you want to go talk to Cleopatra, Anthony or Marcus and let them know your concern, I’m sure they will assign an escort to us, but she didn’t say anything about us needing one when we talked to her twenty minutes ago,” Dean says.
“I’m sure she’d be happy to know that you are concerned about us,” Alex says. “When she seems to trust us. She should love to know that you think she is wrong in trusting us.”
The guard hesitates and says, “go ahead. Just don’t go wandering around.”
Dean, Alex, and Danny nod at the guard and walk past him. Danny chuckles a little under his breath. They walk past the building that they slept in the last time they were there and turn the corner and head back to the firing range. Automatic gunfire can be heard in bursts as they approach the firing range. When they get to the range, a man to the right of the shooting table is standing there in front of a table with various pistols and rifles on it.
“What can I do for you gentlemen?” asks the man.
“They will take those pistols, and I’ll take that shotgun over there,” Dean replies pointing to a couple of Berettas and a Remington shotgun.
The man hands a Beretta to Danny and one to Alex. He also hands them each two clips. He then hands Dean the shotgun and a handful of shotgun shells. The each take their gun to the table and set the clips on the table. Danny and Alex load a clip into the Beretta and aim their pistols down range at the target and squeeze a couple of rounds off each. Danny hits both shots in the chest. Alex hits one shot in the chest and one in the upper right chest. Dean loads six shotgun shells into his shotgun and aims down range to the target and fires a shot. Dean’s shot hits the target in the head. Dean fires again and hits the target in the chest. Danny and Alex continue to shoot until their clip are empty. Dean fires the remaining four shots in the shotgun. When the three are done, they reload and fire their weapons until they are empty. Once completely done, they check their weapons and verify they are empty and return them to the range master.
“Thanks,” Dean says. “but the sights on that are a little off.”
“What do you mean, a little off?”
“Nothing personal but they are. I’ve fired enough guns during my time in the military that I can tell when the sights are off. They aren’t off very much, but enough that the first shot was a bit high.”
“I’ll take a look at it,” says the range master. “You boys’ guns okay?”
“Yes sir,” Alex says.
“Yes, it was fine,” Danny says. “Thank you.”
“Y’all want your targets?”
“No thank you,” Dean says. “Not this time.”
Dean, Alex, and Danny turn and walk back to the main building. Dean tells the boys to go and check the place out while he goes in and talks to Cleopatra. Alex and Danny nod to their dad and walk back towards the building where they spent the night the last time they were at the train yard. Dean walks up the stairs of the main building and goes in and waves at the camera above the metal door. It opens slowly and Anthony walks out.
“Hello again, Mr. Robertson,” Anthony says. “Where are those boys of yours?”
“I told them to go find something to do for a while,” Dean replies. “I saw them heading back to the room we stayed in the last time we were here.”
“Okay,” says Anthony. “I’ll pop over and check on them a little later. They might be going to get a little rest. They are still sort of young.”
“Ah,” Dean says. “Yeah, but not really. They are sixteen and fourteen. But you could be right. They have had a busy couple of days and not much sleep. Is Cleopatra in the control room?”
“Yes, she is. Go on in. She’s expecting you.”
Dean walks into the control room through the metal door. It doesn’t close behind him this time as Cleopatra and Marcus walk towards him. Marcus puts out his hand to shake Dean’s and Dean responds by shaking Marcus’ hand.
“Good day, Mr. Robertson,” Marcus says. “I have to congratulate you and your sons for the fine job you’ve all done thus far. I mean, getting the book and then taking the initiative to get some more information that will help our cause.”
“Thanks,” Dean replies. “Just doing what needed to be done to prove my sincerity to the group and how much destroying the Colonel and all those that helped him kill my wife means to me.”
“Yes,” Cleopatra says. “Thank you, Mr. Robertson. Thank you for your hard work. It seems to have been beneficial to our cause so far.”
“So,” Dean asks. “You found the test subject in Woodstock?”
“I haven’t heard yet back from my men that we sent there, but I’m sure they will turn up something,” Cleopatra says. “I believe you wanted to discuss how you hope my little group can help you take down the military for what was done to your family.”
“Yes,” Dean responds. “You know my story. You know what the Colonel, and others I’m sure, did to my family by taking my wife away from me and my sons. I want them all to pay and I had heard that your group was working on something that could possibly help me exact my revenge.”
“And where did you hear about our group and what is it you heard we are working on?” asks Marcus.
“Like I told Matik on that first day I showed up here, I was military intelligence and between my connections and what I found on the Dark Net, this location is one that houses the Avengers of Liberty, or AoL. There have been some rustlings out there that the AoL was working on some sort of biological weapon. I want to use it on the Colonel and all those that may have helped him.”
“And what if it goes beyond the Colonel and a few co-conspirators?” asks Marcus. “What if it goes all the way to the Secretary of Defense?”
“Why would you think it goes that high?” Dean asks. “I always thought it was just the Colonel using his power to try to trap me into continuing to work for him and do his bidding.”
“Perhaps her death was just a smaller piece of a bigger puzzle,” says Marcus. “Perhaps you were also a piece of someone’s bigger plan.”
“How could I be a part of someone else’s plan? What plan?”
“Well, Mr. Robertson,” Marcus continues. “What if you discovered some information on one of your missions as a ‘military intelligence officer’ that you may not have realized its importance but someone else did. Maybe you unknowingly discovered that the ‘Pulse’ wasn’t part of a terrorist plot that got out of control. Maybe the ‘Pulse’ was supposed to be restricted to a certain area, but maybe someone used it and ‘helped’ it spread and used it as their own personal ‘cleansing’ of humanity.”
“Are you trying to tell me that someone knew the ‘Pulse’ was going to be released and rather than let it stay localized to a small area instead took advantage of some terrorists making the virus and used it to wipe out billions of people around the world?”
“Well, if that was what I was saying, you have to admit the fact that the ‘Pulse’ didn’t affect everyone around, just particular people. And what about those creepers you ran into down in Riverdale. How do you think a CDC plane just happened to crash at the airport and just happened to be carrying a virus that interacted in such a way with the ‘Pulse’?”
“That all sounds too crazy to be true. You sound like one of those conspiracy theory nuts.”
“How much of that book did you read, Dean?” Cleopatra asks.
“I skimmed through it to make sure it was something that looked like what you might have wanted. I saw the formulas and the scientific notes and figured that was the book you were looking for.”
Cleopatra hands Dean the book. “Here. Take a look at page five.”
Dean takes the book and flips the pages until he gets to page five. He reads the page, shaking his head. Marcus’ story is just too much to believe. How could anyone purposely want to kill so many people? What would they have to gain from it? Where do I fit into their plan? Dean thinks as he starts to read. Dean stops reading. He looks up at Marcus and Cleopatra in shock. He reads the page again and shakes his head.
“This can’t be true,” Dean says in awe. “Why would he do all of this?”
