Lucky Read online

  Kneeling slowly, Sam carefully placed the candle on the rug that covered the closet floor and reached into her jacket pocket. She pulled out the can of tuna and can opener and started opening the can. Lucky’s ears perked up at the sound of the can being opened and she tilted her head back and slightly opened her mouth, smelling the air. Sam placed the open can on the floor in front of the candle and then went back into the room to get a bowl and her water canteen. When she came back Lucky was already at the can greedily wolfing down the tuna and lapping up the water in the can.

  Approaching with caution so that she didn’t scare Lucky, Sam knelt back down and placed a bowl next to the tuna can and poured some water from her canteen. She was getting low on drinking water and would have to boil some soon. Lucky had barely acknowledged her, she was too busy scarfing down the tuna. Once again moving slowly Sam reached out her hand lightly touched lucky on the back, stroking down to the tail. Lucky pushed up against her hand and readily accepted the petting. She heard a light purr as Lucky finished eating and pushed up against her hand for more strokes. Sam realized she must have belonged to someone before, maybe even the owners of this house since she had made herself at home in their closet. Lucky was too tame to be a feral cat.

  Picking up the candle, Sam stood and looked around the closet. The left side appeared to be woman’s clothes and the right men’s clothes. She noticed a few dark blue shirts among the men’s clothes that had a patch sewn on the sleeve and holding the candle closer she saw it read Douglasville Police. Thinking she saw something similar on the woman’s side, she looked and saw several tan shirts with green patches that read Douglas County Sheriff. Huh...a family of cops. Well maybe that’s why no locals ransacked this place, coming from a family of cops herself she knew most neighbors would respect their area in hopes of protection for themselves. Now Sam wondered...where were the guns? She never met a single cop that didn’t have at least a few extra guns at home, in addition than their service weapons.

  She started pushing the clothes around looking behind them for a hidden gun safe, Nothing. Maybe the dresser? She moved to the other room and pulled out each of the drawers on the dresser and even the nightstand. Nothing...not a single bullet. How strange. Sam yawned and decided it was time to call it a night, she could continue her search tomorrow when the light was brighter. She laid one of the sheets over the bed and pulled a blanket on top of herself. Laying down she started to think about all of the things she would need to do tomorrow to secure the house better as well as where she could build a fire to treat the water. The house wasn’t an ideal location for a hide out, but it would have to do for now. She knew that she wasn’t far enough away from Atlanta, that place was a shit-storm. Before long she was softly snoring

  .

  Chapter 2

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  16 December 2020 (Kittens 1 day old)

  Douglasville, GA

  Sam woke up with a jolt, sitting straight up in bed. Her Bowie knife was clutched in her hand, she always slept with it in her hand these days. Lucky was scratching on the door in the closet, which is what must have woken her. She shushed the cat and it stopped scratching and meowed instead. She guessed Lucky must be getting hungry again and so was she now that she thought about it. She could see just a slight glow of light around the taped-up windows, so she knew it was morning at least.

  Sitting on the side of the bed, she reached out and pulled up a corner of the taped window to let some light in and then looked at the food in the crates. She didn’t want to eat the lighter foods that would be easier to carry, but since there were several big boxes of cereal she decided on Honey Nut Cheerios since it was already open. Hopefully it didn’t have weevils in it...and if it did...she shrugged and decided she would eat it anyway. She also grabbed a can of tuna and headed for the closet, deciding she could eat breakfast with Lucky. However, upon opening the door she had second thoughts...the closet smelled awful. Poor Lucky had no litter box and it was already reeking of cat pee and feces. She decided if she was going to say here for any length of time she would need to find a litter box for her, even if it was just sand it was better than a pile of clothes!

  Leaving the door cracked open she placed the open can of tuna next to the bed and let Lucky come out of the closet to eat while she sat on the bed and ate handfuls of dry cereal, luckily without weevils, and sips of water. When Lucky was done eating she jumped up on the bed next to Sam and starting cleaning herself. Sam ran her hand down Lucky’s back and scratched her around the ears and under the chin while she purred her contentment. Sam couldn’t help but think of her cat Blue she had growing up. She was a Blue Russian and her fur was the same color as Lucky’s and just as soft and silky. Last time she saw Blue she was curled up on the end of her bed at her parents’ house. She was packing up to left for Army basic training and Blue kept trying to get in her suitcase. Was Blue still alive? Were her parents still alive? What about her sister and her friends back home? How many of them had died?

  She had to get back to Texas! But the roads were so dangerous and food was so hard to find out on the road. And now she was alone with no one to help her. Sam felt the tears coming and decided she needed a small cry, they needed to be to let out but she couldn’t feel sorry for herself! She was still alive! And she would survive! Tom had taught her a lot of things in the last 5 months since the bombs dropped. Chemical warfare bombs that released a deadly Nerve agent and EMPs that knocked out almost all electronics.

  ✽✽✽

  10 July 2020 N-Day

  Fort Jackson, SC

  Sam’s platoon was practicing NBC training: Nuclear, Biological and Chemical warfare training. They had all of their MOPP gear (Mission Oriented Protective Posture) on, except for their masks and gloves. So far, they had spent the morning going over how to wear it and the proper way to fasten the straps and insuring the gloves were tucked into the sleeves. Also, the different levels of MOPP, the higher the level the more gear you wore. The Drills would call out a level and they had to either take off or put on gear to get to the right level. Sam loved it, it was hot as hell in the suits but at least they weren’t sitting in a class today. They also practiced taking their gas masks out of the bag on their hip and putting it on and then taking it off and putting it back in the bag.

  Drill Sgt Torres, who was a young Hispanic female about the same age as Sam and fresh out of the Drill Sergeant Academy, had given her hell for putting the bag on the wrong hip, but she was left handed and the right hip only seemed natural. The Drill then gave her hell for being a leftie until Drill Sgt. Farmer, who was a Staff Sgt with a wide tanned face that was always cracking jokes, because he said he could since he was getting close to the end of his tour said, “But Drill, don’t you know lefties are in their right mind?” He winked at Sam and she had tried hard not to smile. Drill Sgt Torres finally moved on to harassing someone else.

  Of course, there was a lot of yelling by the Drill Instructors and some people just didn’t listen well or maybe it was the stress of knowing they were going in the gas chamber soon. Sam noticed that one girl in the fourth squad kept dropping everything and her hair was falling out of its bun. Sam kept thinking ‘That girls a hot mess...wait until that CS gas hits her.’ Drill Sgt. Davis, a Sergeant First Class and the senior instructor, was currently demonstrating how to lift your mask and wipe underneath it with the decontamination wipes. Rebecca, her battle buddy, who was a short red head and two years younger than her, elbowed her and pointed to the sky. Sam looked up and noticed there was a misty cloud coming down and a flock of birds flying overhead just flew into it and were dropping dead out of the sky. One of them falling to land right in front of her.

  Drill Sgt. Davis had looked to see what Rebecca was pointing at and he immediately screamed “MOPP level 4! This is not a drill! Double time Drills this is real!!” He jumped for the closest suit and started putting it on even before he finished giving the command. The drill instructors were not in MO
PP gear since they were teaching. The soldiers were all at level 2, they just had to put their masks and gloves on. Sam put her mask on, then gloves and was pulling her sleeves over her gloves. She just had to tighten the hood around her mask. The Drill instructors were so fast putting the gear on that they were already slipping their masks on. But for some reason the girl that was a hot mess had put her gloves on first and she was having a problem getting her mask on. She had already dropped it several times. Her battle buddy was trying to help her, but she seemed to be making it worse. Drill Sgt. Farmer was geared up and telling everyone to get on the bus.

  Just then a loud wailing siren sounded. Sam checked that Rebecca was with her and they took off running. Sam looked back and saw the Hot mess girl seemed to be hyperventilating and then she collapsed and started twitching with foam coming out of her mouth. Drill Sgt. Torres was by her side and putting her gas mask on her. Sam and Rebecca got on the bus and sat down at the front, right behind the seat by the door. They left that seat empty for the Drill Sgt. She looked out the window and saw Torres was pulling the Hot mess soldier over her shoulders in a fireman's carry. Everyone was on the bus now sitting in their seats when Drill Sgt. Davis closed the door on the bus. Torres was already putting the girl on the floor in the isle right next to where Sam was sitting. She saw her pull the injections from the girls’ bag and give her all four injections, waiting just a short bit between each one. Sam was thinking that they said to only do that if you were sure the person had Nerve agent poisoning.

  Drill Sgt. Farmer was giving them instructions on decontamination. He said “Open the wipes from your decon pack, decontaminate your gloves first then hold your breath, close your eyes, lift your mask and clean your face. Make sure you get everywhere including the inside of the mask and your ears and neck then reseal your mask, and make sure it’s cleared!” He then did what he had described to himself. They all followed his instructions on decontaminating their skin and equipment. While they were taking his instructions, Sam felt her heart pounding and was making sure she followed it exactly. Drill Sgt Torres was decontaminating herself and was way ahead of Farmer’s instructions. Sam tried not to watch her because she didn’t want to become confused. But she glanced around as she wiped her gear and saw Drill Sgt. Davis was doing the same. He was standing by the door and decontaminating around the door too. Luckily the bus didn’t have any windows open and just to be sure she looked around. Sgt Torres was decontaminating the Hot mess laying on the floor. Sam saw her lift the girls mask and it was full of bloody foam. Sam thought that was not a good sign.

  Drill Sgt Davis drove the bus to the closest secure building, which was the mess hall. He pulled the bus up on the grass in front of the covered entrance and Sam heard the top of the bus scrap along the bricks of the building he was so close. He stopped with the door just inside of the corner column. There was already a group of people in MOPP gear in the building. They grouped up at the doors looking out and Sam could see that their MOPP gear looked different, somehow better than what she had on. But maybe that was because hers was training gear. Their masks were also different, they had square filters on both sides of the mask. She wondered if they were even Army.

  Drill Sgt. Davis told everyone not to move and told Farmer to close the door behind him. He went to the door and was talking to the person on the other side. She counted seven people in MOPP gear and then an eight person in gear came out of the back, he was carrying a large roll of garbage bags and tape. After talking with the soldiers in the building, Drill Sgt. Davis came back to the bus and called Attention. He told them that the group of soldiers inside were Special Forces, also known as Green Berets, that just happened to be passing through the area getting ready for a special mission. And lucky for them, require a significant amount of decontamination gear and they were going to help them. He said he wanted everyone to pull out their cell phones and contact their loved ones via text if possible to find out if their families were safe and let them know they were safe. He also instructed everyone to check their social media and news pages to see if they could get any information on what was going on. They could carry their cell phones on them, but they weren’t allowed to use them unless the Drill Sergeant gave them permission.

  Almost as one, everyone had their phones out and were holding them up so they could see the screens as they texted and scanned for news. It was almost impossible to talk on the phone through the gas mask but the Drill Sgt kept trying to make calls, but he didn’t seem to be getting through to anyone. Sam sent a quick group text to her Mom and Dad, her text read: This is not a joke, Deathly chemical released here. I’m safe, inside safe place with platoon. Check before going outside. Let me know ya’ll are safe. She then went to her Facebook page and scanned to see if anyone had posted anything. There were several posts from friends back in Texas asking for information of what was going on. Then suddenly she heard every phone go off with an emergency broadcast, Sam looked at her phone:

  Emergency Alert:

  Seek immediate shelter and seal all vents to outside

  Stockpile Food and water

  Do not drive, do not go back outside until further notice

  Call 9-1-1 for Emergencies only

  This is not a drill

  Staring at her phone in shock she realized this was very real and probably wide spread. Some of the other soldiers were starting to panic and there was lots of crying and shouting. Suddenly the Drill Sgt yelled “Attention!” Everyone automatically shut up as they had been conditioned to do over the last four weeks. Most everyone quieted down but you could still hear some of the people crying through their gas masks. Sam couldn’t help but think that might cause a problem with the seal but she kept her mouth shut, there wasn’t any way she could make someone stop crying. Sam was squad leader of First squad. A spot she had worked hard to earn and not everyone liked her because of it. Some of them even called her a blue falcon, which was a euphemism for buddy fucker, but she was older than most of them and because of her previous college she outranked most of them as a Specialist. She tried not to “pull rank” but some of the soldiers were lazy and had no respect for anyone. She wasn’t raised that way, everyone worked, and everyone pulled their weight and it irked her when someone didn’t.

  Drill Sgt Davis looked almost lost for a moment and then he almost gently told them to hang in there and got off the bus again. Four of the Green Berets had come outside, one of them had a strange box and had moved it around the door before they came outside. Another one of them was holding a big canister and sprayer that reminded her of the one her dad used to spray for bugs around the Ranch.

  Two of the Green Berets made the Drill Sgt stand next to the side of the bus. They moved the box up and down and then a light went off. She was reminded of a metal detector at the airport and then it occurred to her that it was a probably a chemical detector. They had him stand with arms out at a downward angle and feet spread wide, and they sprayed him down with the chemical. He turned around so they could spray the other side and she saw that he had his injector in the tab on his jacket, which meant he had used it.

  The Green Beret with the garbage bags started pulling bags off the roll, passing them to another Green Beret who was opening them up along the ends so they laid out in a long flat piece. They all seemed to know just what to do. They handed the roll of tape to Drill Sgt. Davis who was still standing by the bus and he started helping tape the long sides of the plastic together after they motioned to him. Sam wondered what the hell they were doing. Once they had about 10 bags taped together they put several long pieces of tape across the top overlapping them and hanging over the ends. They then all worked together to pick it up and hang it on the west side of the opening. Drill Sgt. Davis, who was a tall black man and probably had the longest reach of any of them, was adding extra tape along the top and then down the sides. Securing it to the front of the building and around the front post and onto the side of the bus that was pulled flush against the building. Sam realized they we
re creating a barrier. They made a second barrier and put it up on the other side. They then moved around the enclosure with the chemical detector.

  The Green Beret with the canister started spraying a light mist all over the outside of the bus. Once this was done the Green Beret checked it again with the detector. He sprayed a few areas again. While this was happening outside of the bus, inside of the bus Drill Sgt Farmer was going around asking everyone how they felt. He had a few people take out their injectors and inject themselves. She noticed his used injector in the tab of his top. Sam felt fine, no different than normal, and Rebecca seemed fine too. But she could hear a few people sniffing and she didn’t know if that was crying or the effects of the Nerve agent. She kept checking her phone to see if her parents had replied to her text. She even sent a message to a few friends. She stood up and snapped a picture behind her at all of the soldiers in their gas masks and posted it on Facebook with ‘#EndofDays, what the hell is happening?’

  Right now, Sam just felt shock and then she looked down at the Hot mess girl on the floor, and felt bad for what she was thinking earlier, she wondered if Drill Sgt Torres felt bad too, she had been harassing the girl for dropping her mask right before Drill Sgt Davis called for MOPP Level 4. She saw the girls name tag then, it said Pvt Hanson, she was a young girl, probably 18 years old with long stringy blond hair that had mostly fallen out of the bun now and a little up turned nose, so great,.Hot Mess Hanson. She had 6 injectors in her jacket tabs. Drill Sgt Torres was going over Hanson’s whole body with the decon kit since she couldn’t do it herself. Would she live?

  They finished with the outside of the bus and banged on the door. Drill Sgt Farmer opened the bus door and told everyone to remain seated. They removed Hanson from the bus and she was laid out on the side of the covered area on top of some garbage bags. A Green Beret from inside came out carrying a bag with medic mark on it, and a fifth one carrying another canister with sprayer. Just then she was told to come to the door, she was going to be the first one out. They stopped her in the door and scanned her with the detector. It went off when he went over her feet.