“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 not know, but he suspected it would be sooner than later. He suspected that clearly, he would know when the time arrived. The file was lengthy with instructions and other useful information. Immediately, Dayyan started giving the men instructions.
Dayyan sent all four of his cell members except for Naseem to the two separate storage lockers Dayyan had rented in other parts of Glendale. The group took the two older trucks, loaded up the contents from both lockers, and returned to the shop. Dayyan gave the men strict instructions to leave all the crates and boxes closed and locked and just return them to the shop. Dayyan did not want to disclose his “stash” to everyone until the event happen. Three of his cell members who had men in splinter cells of their own made phone calls directing the faithful go to three different locations immediately and wait for instructions. Additionally, they were ordered to remain until further contact was initiated.
The shop was hot and smelly with the eleven men remaining all afternoon and evening. Dayyan collected all cell phones and placed them on a center table. For necessary phone calls, the caller would use the phone speaker with others nearby listening. No one was permitted to leave alone. Even when using the small restroom, the door had to remain open. A large order of pizzas ordered from Dominoes arrived early in the evening. Dayyan had used the time to read the more detailed instructions. A list contained a large number of hard and soft targets labeled as “Targets of Opportunity.” Another list contained names of sympathizers who may be of value. Dayyan committed as much as his brain could hold to memory. Boredom was setting in while the men waited.
At 10:30 p.m., something did happen. WNN was playing on the Satellite TV. Suddenly an obviously shaken-up newscaster came on and interrupted the scheduled financial show. The newscaster was in the large editorial room instead of the fancy news set. People were running in all directions behind the worried-looking newsman. All of them looked scared and shaken. Something big was happening. The female newscaster spoke in a shaken voice, “Reports are flooding into the newsroom of a massive explosion in the Washington, DC, area. We are trying to get witness reports now, but communications systems are not working…”
The newscaster paused as an assistant handed her a slip of paper which she started reading, “We have reports from outside the metro DC area. People are describing a huge mushroom cloud. Some are also reporting a massive flash as far away as Baltimore. Other reports are coming in of large-scale power fai—” The screen went blank for a moment. Naseem picked up the remote and change to Fox News. The screen was displaying “Fox News Alert” and it appeared as if technical difficulties were confounding the network as it tried to switch to a live person. However, it also went black. Naseem pressed the previous button on the remote and it switched back to WNN. Scrolling text was the only thing on the screen: “Stand by for instructions…this is the emergency broadcast system…this is a real emergency…”
Naseem switched to the local channel 7, Eyewitness News. A newscaster was broadcasting from the news set, “We have many reports of a massive explosion possibly nuclear in Washington, DC. We are trying to get our affiliate correspondents on the phone.”
The female to his right broke in, “Phil, we have Eyewitness reporter Gail Sanderglass on the phone. She is calling from Annapolis Maryland. Gail, what can you tell us?”
A broken and static-filled response came, “Diane, we were driving back to our hotel in Annapolis and the entire sky to the west lit up. We then saw an ominous glowing cloud start to form. A shock wave hit us about thirty seconds ago. Our car was rocked strongly. We can now hear dozens of sirens in the background. Three police cars just wen—”
Then that channel also went black.
A few seconds later, the power in the room went out. Dayyan made his way to the workbench and turned on a large lantern style flashlight. His men were standing silent and staring at him and one another. Everyone seemed stunned. The room was silent. Dayyan found several more flashlights and handed them out. Dayyan went to the front of the store, and the others followed. The men lined up at the windows and looked out to a pitch-black street. Dayyan opened the front door and stepped out. No lights were visible except for a few car headlights down the block to the left. Cars were stopped at various places in the street. Many at odd angles and places. None of the cars were moving. He could hear many of them cranking over as the drivers tried to restart the engines. He listened but did not hear any of them restart. People were getting out and opening the hoods of the dead cars.
Dayyan looked at the group of men now surrounding him and spoke. “Well, my brothers, it has begun. A great blow has been delivered to the Great Satan. Our mission now begins. We shall now rise and join the extermination of the infidels. You have been trained for this mission, and it is time to begin.”