The next day we headed to the outpost very early for the scheduled communication with the Movement. The outpost was under a self-storage complex, about a half mile from the Marina.

  Jillian, Rebecca, Helen and Reese stayed outside with the dogs as Scotty and I accompanied Mark and James inside the complex. As soon as I entered through the door and down the stairs, I felt as though something was wrong.

  “Does anything appear, different here?” I asked. Mark and James were focused on the communication in three hours and just said ‘no’ as they made their preparations. My unease slowly escaladed to the point Scotty noticed.

  “We all need to leave.” Scotty said in a serious tone.

  “We can’t, we’ll miss the call?” James said.

  “Is there a way to use a radio? To relay the signal? So, we can be outside?” I asked in a slight panic.

  “No”. James said unconvincing making sure everything was working properly.

  “We need to be outside.” I said turning toward Scotty looking directly at him as he immediately grabbed my shoulder and forced me toward the exit.

  “Where are you going?” Mark asked looking up from the console. “There is something wrong here and we don’t want to be a part of it.” Scotty said as we turned and hurried toward the exit. We made it outside and Jillian and Helen came over immediately.

  “What happened?” Jillian demanded.

  “Something is not right here.” I said trying to regain my composure.

  “Get the vehicles out of here! Over there, in that field, under those trees!” Scotty said in a commanding tone looking at the ground and pointing. Rebecca, Helen and Reese jumped into the closest vehicle and tore out of the parking lot and into the field under the trees as Jillian, Scotty and I ran with the dogs.

  “What happened sweetie?” Helen asked, placing her hand on my back as I was out of breath from running.

  “Something…don’t know exactly.” I said as Rebecca handed Jillian, Scotty and I some water that we shared with Ginger and Pete.

  “Strange shadows snapped along the floor, swirling sounds, like whispers from different directions.” I said as Jillian grabbed my face and performed the breathing exercise and I felt my heart rate lower.

  “When John Wayne gets scared, there is reason for alarm.” Scotty said to everyone.

  “Let’s go. We can leave them a vehicle.” Rebecca said.

  “Let’s give them a half hour, I’ll be right back.” Reese said as he quickly took the Escalade and parked it in front of the storage facility and entered. After about ten minutes, Reese emerged from the storage unit carrying the large console they were working on. Mark and James carried small components and cables and loaded up the Escalade and returned to our location under the trees.

  The trees did not provide enough shade. Scotty and I placed a large blue boat tarp we found over the vehicles. We sat in the middle and had lunch as Mark and James barked out instructions as they scrambled to make the necessary connections. We had to sacrifice one of our radios in order to complete the project. Rebecca handed Mark and James food and water and insisted that they eat and drink as they work.

  Mark and James worked fast and double checked all the connections twice with forty minutes to spare. I explained to them my experience in the outpost and they did not fully understand but did not have a problem adapting.

  “Here we go.” Mark said as he flipped the switch. He punched in a series of numbers and the speaker went from static to a blank sound, only a gentle hiss could be heard. We all sat in silence and snacked on fresh fruit as we all heard a couple of clicks through the speaker.

  “Test, test.” Issued from the speaker as a whisper, quiet and clear as Mark and James smiled and reached for the transmitter saying: ‘That’s Jason!” I stopped him. “You have six minutes.” I said looking at Jillian’s wristwatch. They reluctantly agreed.

  “963241”. Came over the speaker, not Jason’s voice. Mark and James looked at James’s wristwatch and waited exactly thirteen seconds, both counting out loud then pointing to the speaker.

  “968241”. Came over the speaker, Jason’s voice.

  “973242”. Mark said waiting exactly thirteen seconds as James switched the frequency on the green digital readout.

  “Give us some good news!” James said into the transmitter.

  “It’s good to hear your voice!” Jason said.

  “Same here!” Mark said.

  “Both helicopters are burning as we speak!” The unfamiliar voice said.

  “What’s the current count?” James asked.

  “So far, nine.” Came the response.

  “I’ll stay as long as I can, then watch for the fireworks!” Jason said.

  “We saw two, maybe three ultralights takeoff from the roof yesterday. It was tough to see with all the smoke.” said the unfamiliar voice as we heard short bursts of sporadic gunfire.

  “Where’s that coming from?” Mark asked.

  “Compound three, officers trying to shoot the archers. OUCH! Right through the neck!” Jason said laughing a little, then a sudden change of emotion.

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  “Did you meet up with any new… friends?” Jason asked.

  “Yes! Yes, we did indeed!” James said proudly looking at us gathered around.

  “NO WAY!” Jason said very enthusiastically.

  “You gotta be shitting us!” The other voice said astonished.

  “You pilgrims best keep your heads down.” I said in my best John Wayne impersonation. Cheers and jubilance could be heard as Jason yelled: “IT’S THE DUKE! The Fucking DUKE!”

  “Change the bandages on your arms…” Jillian started to say as multiple voices interrupted “Doctor J! Doctor J!”

  “Is Pete there?” Jason asked, his voice filled with emotion.

  “He’s right here.” I said as James held the transmitter near Pete who was panting from the heat of the afternoon. Jason started crying.

  “OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! IT’S HIM!” Jason said barely able to contain himself.

  “What about the others?” The unfamiliar voice asked.

  “We're here son.” Scotty said.

  “We're right here sweetie.” Helen said softly.

  “HOPE YOUR KICKING SOME ASS!” Reese said in a thunderous tone as a resounding cheer erupted.

  “Oh shit!” Jason said as it sounded like he moved quickly away from the radio. A loud bang and what sounded like two gunshots similar to James’ gun. Everyone was quiet. Whispering could be heard among footsteps.

  “Does anyone want to talk to… Jason?” A husky female voice. No one responded.

  “It’s just as well. He doesn’t have much to say, anymore.” The woman said in a flat tone as other communications could be heard from another source. I felt panic in their muffled voices as she muted communications.

  “It’s her.” The unfamiliar voice said quietly after a couple of seconds.

  “Shh.” Mark said immediately.

  “Trevor?” The woman asked.

  “Ah Trevor. You know, you weren’t much use to us anyway, and you think you can be of use to anyone else? It doesn’t matter. All of you will be dead in a couple of days anyway. We have perfected the treatments and it’s only available to a select few.” The woman said in a satisfactory tone.

  “Does it protect against bullets?” Rebecca said loudly surprising everyone. The woman just laughed, a mirthless laugh.

  “Your voice is somewhat familiar to me. You are a survivor, yes?” The woman asked. Hearing Rebecca’s voice alarmed the woman. I also sensed fear and apprehension with regards to the ‘treatment’ comment.

  “Tell me all about yourself.” The woman asked as she hit the mute button. Rebecca said nothing, looking toward us as we all shook our heads ‘no’.

  “Tell Jimmy and Tommy I said goodbye.” The woman said as we heard three explosions and saw smoke pouring from the outpost as two men stood with small automatic weapons at the entrance waiting for someone to exit. Apparently, they did not see us as we blended in with the surroundings and Ginger and Pete started to growl.

  “No one move or make a sound.” Scotty said quietly as Mark turned down the volume on the radio.

  A single shot rang out loud from my left as one of the men fell to the ground. The other man immediately turned in our direction and fired his weapon until his magazine was empty. It was as though he was firing blanks as all of us ducked for cover as Reese stood and worked the bolt on his rifle walking toward the man.

  The man dropped his empty weapon and stood with his hands raised as Reese approached pointing his rifle at his head. The man was very scared and unstable as he quickly dropped down and picked up the weapon from his fallen comrade and took his own life.

  “We know you are just a few miles away, Trevor. Your friends; new and old, are all dead. As you will be as well.” The woman said.

  “The air smell so good. The birds are like music. If we only have a couple of days; this is how we want to spend them.” Trevor said to a chorus of agreement from his group.

  “I, plan on living a long and wonderful life. The world, is still mine.” The woman said with satisfaction.

  Rebecca reached for the transmitter, her face red and head shaking with rage. Reese stopped her. “Don’t break radio silence! They think we're dead.” He said. Mark clicked the transmitter three times and switched the frequency.

  “What happened!” Trevor asked excited. Mark and James explained what had happened as Trevor and his group cheered to hearing the news that we were all alive.

  “I just hope Jason’s plan works.” Trevor said.

  “How come I don’t feel comfortable relying on a dead man’s plan.” James said looking at all of us.

  “It’s all we got right now.” Trevor said after a long moment of silence as cheers erupted from Trevor’s radio.

  “We see a group of about… one, two… five! Five! Heading this way! Everyone was cheering as Trevor continued; “We’ll stay until first light tomorrow, make sure everyone has enough supplies, as for me I’m going to California! With any luck I’ll be there in about a week. I know the marina and I will leave a note!” Trevor said as a huge explosion was heard followed by three more.

  “OH MY GOD!” Trevor said as smaller explosions could be heard, and then, nothing else, his group was silent.

  “May God have mercy on us.” Someone said in the background from Trevor’s radio.

  “No one is walking away from that.” Someone else said.

  “It had to be done. Something, had to be done.” A woman’s voice was heard. After a long silent pause an older man’s voice sounded; “So, what can we expect to find with this new world?”

  “Just make sure that if you run into anyone; be polite, don’t be aggressive and make sure you have something to trade. Do NOT steal from anyone.” Scotty said.

  “What’s your name ‘Good ole boy’?” Came a thick male southern accent.

  “Scotty.” He responded.

  “Sorry to say Scotty, but I’m not going to Cali. Headin to Missip.” The man said.

  “Good luck to you…” Scotty said pausing.

  “Names Ron.” Ron said.

  “Good luck to you Ron, be safe, respect people, the land and Mother Nature.” Scotty said.

  Each of the fourteen people including two children requested to talk to us. This was as inspirational as it was depressing knowing that only one, maybe two have a remote chance of seeing next week. We shared the knowledge we thought appropriate; Food and fresh water sources, first aid.

  “Take only what you need and utilize it to its maximum potential. Leave no trace and be careful of campfires. Do not mention our names or locations to anyone. Not everyone you meet will be… nice. There are few rules and guidelines but no laws. If you are considered a threat. You are dead.” All of us added comments like these to the conversation.

  “My battery is almost gone, were going to have to sign off.” Trevor said sounding a little choked up.

  “The Earth is at peace, be a part of it.” Helen said, as Trevor started to say something and the signal faded out.

  “I could use a drink.” Rebecca said as she opened her eyes as it appeared as though she was praying as Mark turned off the radio.

  “You did it. Congratulations.” I said offering my hand. Mark and James were disappointed that only fourteen people made it out. No survivors among them. They obviously were kept away from everyone else.

  “So, what’s your next move?” Scotty asked Mark and James.

  “Were going to Catalina with Rebecca and Reese. To meet Susan, Paul, Sammy and Elaine and tour the island. Neither of us have ever been there and it sounds beautiful. Since time maybe critical, were going to leave right away.” James said as Helen began to cry softly.

  “We want to thank you for, everything you have done. It has been an honor meeting all of you. Make the best use of the time you have together. I’m optimistic that one or both of us will be on the good side of thirty percent.” Mark said as we all affectionately said our goodbyes and pictures were taken.

  “That Lobster-cake dish you made…” Mark said to Jillian. “That was the best… thing I have ever tasted. Ever. It was like a symphony for the pallet!” Mark said as he gave Jillian an extra hug.

  “Thank you.” Jillian said tearing up as we watched them drive away in the Escalade.

  “Would you two mind coming over to our house?” Helen asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Scotty shook his head hoping we would join them for dinner. “We need to be together.” Helen said.

  “Anyone within ten miles is going to see the smoke.” Scotty said looking up into the sky from the outpost. Scotty and I put out the small fires burning in the outpost and secured the door. We packed up all the electronic gear and took the weapons from the two dead men and checked their pockets.