The Macro Event. Andrew Adams

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СКАЧАТЬ tricky, but he did so easily. Then he turned on the radio. The small digital screen lit up and after a bunch of random flashing, it stopped and displayed “3-13” just as the instructions said it should.

      “So far so good,” Logan said.

      While Logan had been hooking up the two-way radio, Madison had been rotating the dial and flipping between AM and FM on the small battery-powered radio. She was trying to find a station that was broadcasting. Similar to Logan’s experience with the small portable radio, she was not having any luck. She switched to the Short Wave setting and started scanning those frequencies slowly.

      Logan then said, “Well, this radio seems to be working, so let’s try calling the other kids.”

      Logan picked up the mic, but just as he did, the radio came to life. “Garrett Base, this is Garrett West. Do you copy?”

      Startled, Madison and Logan looked at the radio in shock and then realized that it was Lawrence calling from his radio. Logan answered, “Lawrence, is that you?”

      Lawrence called back, “Yes, Logan, it is me. I have been calling for about ten minutes and hoping someone would answer. Are you guys all right? Are you there with Mom?”

      “Yes, I am here with Mom. My car quit on the freeway and I jogged here and woke her up. Is the power out at your apartment?” Logan asked.

      “Yeah, power is out. Cars and other electronics are dead. My car will not start.”

      “I just got this radio hooked up and working. I have a hunch Dad might have been right about a lot of this. We are worried about him. He called Mom from Vegas a few hours ago. I hope he is okay,” Logan said into the radio mic.

      “Don’t worry about him. We know he has more stuff and plans up his sleeve than most anyone in the country. He will be okay.”

      Madison asked for the mic from Logan and said, “I imagine you are right, Lawrence. If your car is out, Lawrence, how will you get here?”

      “Richard Silva and his wife live about two miles from here. I am going to pack up some of my stuff and make my way to their house. I will use my mountain bike. My roommate has already left to go to his parents’ house that is close to here. I am not sure what they will do from there.”

      Lawrence was the oldest of the Garrett children. He had enlisted into the Army at the age of eighteen, became an Army Ranger, and had numerous deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places. Many missions and deployments were so top secret he never told the family about them. He, like Logan, was now attending college working on a criminology degree with hopes of joining one of the three-letter federal agencies. He and a friend from school had rented an apartment in Newhall about fifteen miles from the Garrett house.

      Richard Silva was a non-active-duty marine who worked for Lee. He was a stocky 5'9" who believed completely in the saying “Once a Marine, always a Marine.” He worked out regularly and went to the range frequently to keep up his shooting skills. Richard and his wife, Dena, had a standing invitation to the Garrett house if a major disaster or emergency occurred. Dena was a short, frail brunette who looked as if a weapon would knock her over if she ever fired one. But Richard was always joking about how Dena could whoop him if she wanted, and Lee figured being a marine, he would be of great help in defense of the house. Richard was agreeable to the arrangement and stored certain things at the Garrett house. The couple had also contributed to the emergency food supplies and other prepper equipment.

      “Are you using the large radio or one of the small ones?” Madison asked.

      “This is the larger one. I hooked it up like Dad showed us, and I guess it works,” Lawrence replied.

      “I will bring it with me. I have a large pack. I will bring as much stuff as possible. I will try the smaller radios once I am outside and in a clear spot. Leave your large one on. I guess you have not heard from Mel and James?” Lawrence asked, referring to his younger sister Melinda and her husband James who lived in Acton, about ten miles in the other direction from Lawrence.

      “No, we just turned on the radio when we heard you. I think if their radio was on and working, they would have chimed in by now. Maybe they are sleeping and do not even know about the power outage yet.”

      Lawrence replied and then asked, “You might be right. I guess they will find out in the morning. Have you tried starting up Dad’s Mustang yet?”

      “No. We did not even think about it. I will have Logan go try right now and call you back. If it is running, we could come and get you and then go see about Mel and James,” Madison said.

      “No! If it is running that is great, but whatever you do, do not go out in the car. I just witnessed a big knife fight out on the street in front of the apartment over a running old Nissan pickup. It will be nuts on the roads with all the dead cars and stranded people. Crazy people may kill you for that running car. If it is running, lock it up in the shed out of sight. When I get there tomorrow, maybe the roads will have cleared up. Then we can think about going out for Mel.”

      “Okay, Lawrence. I guess you’re right. But if we don’t hear from the kids by tomorrow sometime, I am going to be very worried,” Madison replied.

      “I think they will be okay. You know that James has more guns than Dad does. Melinda is an expert with her 1911. Lawrence said referring to the common military version of the .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun. I bet you hear from them in the morning when they wake up and find out what happened.”

      Madison then said, “Okay, Lawrence, go and get yourself ready to head out. You be careful also.”

      “I will, Mom. I will call you back when I can. Keep the radio on. Try to make sure the small solar panel on the outside of the house is charging the radio battery. Logan can check it in the morning when the sun comes up. I think he knows how. If the battery goes dead, you can use one of the car batteries. Bye for now, Mom. Logan, you keep things safe until I get there. Love you, guys,” Lawrence said.

      “Love you, Lawrence. See you soon. Mom out.”

      Chapter 3

      2245, Day Zero, Glendale, California

      Dayyan and the rest of his cell had been busy all day. After his cell members had arrived at the repair shop plus the four new men, Dayyan had opened the two envelopes. The Fed-Ex package contained one, and Adham had brought the other. Both the envelopes contained a USB flash drive. Dayyan pulled a laptop computer from a locked cabinet and placed first one and then the other flash drive into the ports. The flash drives had various files, photos, and miscellaneous junk on them. File comparison software confirmed they were identical. The duplication was another safeguard used for operational security. All but one file was worthless junk just used to mix in and make the real file less noticeable.

      Dayyan found the file he was looking for. The file had an .mp3 file extension. An icon had been created to make the file appear as a simple music file. He changed the extension to a .txt extension and opened it. It was just a garbled mess. Therefore, he opened a Symantec encryption program and opened the file again using software. The file turned to usable text.

      Dayyan saw three locations listed as “immediate targets.” The first two were gun stores. The third location was undisclosed. His handler would call and provide him the third target only if the first two targets were attacked successfully. The instructions sternly reminded Dayyan, “Do not open the box until the Time.” What time, he did СКАЧАТЬ