DHS–Domestic Terrorism
Annex
Washington, DC
February 02, 2018
The weekend finally arrived. Dan felt frustrated. The Task Force continued to correlate data but the initial enthusiasm had waned, and the team had settled into a bureaucratic grind that bred lethargy. People got tired of the long days with not much to show for their efforts. There had been no big breakthrough, and the team’s attitude deteriorated with the monotonous routine. Dan mentally replayed the week’s events and concluded that he’d allowed the team to start drifting. Picking up a clean legal pad, he jotted some notes on how he’d get the team re-energized the following week.
Tonight he’d been invited to join a former Navy friend for the Wizards game and took a deep breath on his way out of the office. He’d like to see his old friend but couldn’t resolve the internal debate raging in his mind. The mission had become a constant focus, and he didn’t have the ability to turn off the work week that easily. It stayed with him. He had no other distractions in his life, except frequent feelings of guilt as he revisited his family’s Veterans Day trip over and over. As he exited the building, a sharp, cold wind hit his face. He pulled up his overcoat and quickened his pace, as he walked towards the Verizon Center in Northeast Washington, right at the Gallery Place/ Chinatown Metro stop. Stopping just short of the crowds hustling to the game, he turned around and headed back to the solace of his empty office. He just wasn’t ready to add any unnecessary complications to his shattered life.