Day by Day Armageddon: Shattered Hourglass by J. L. Bourne Read Free Book Online Page A

been disclosed that they might be outnumbered in the United States by two hundred and ninety-five million and rising daily. There were some survivors holding out in attics and basements around the U.S., but not many, the analysts estimated. Their numbers were diminishing hourly, adding them to the enemy’s collective.
    Doc transmitted out, “Hawse, how close are you to the generator room?”
    “Uh, ten meters, I think.”
    “Think you can get it going?”
    “Depends on how much diesel we got in the tanks.”
    “Do what you can, man, I’ll need some juice.”
    “Okay, I’m workin’ it.”
    Billy continued to scan. “Doc, you hear that?” he said.
    “Nope.”
    “Those things are already thrashing on the door we used to come in.”
    “Fuckin’ relentless. Think any of them are hot, Billy?”
    “One in ten in this area, according to intel.”
    Doc listened to the radio crypto sync in. “I’ll have the genny up in a sec, man; we got an eighth of a tank of fuel, though. Recommend we run it only a couple hours a day, at least until we find more,” Hawse reported.
    “Agreed. The marines left us a sketch of the area with the few locations worth checking. We’re gonna need to snatch a tanker, or at least figure out a way to move some fuel here.”
    Doc could hear Hawse switching the main breaker off and priming the generator; the sound traveled down the steel corridors as if Hawse was in the room next door.
    Hawse cut in again. “Found the checklist, beginning the sequence.”
    The battery must have held enough charge since the evacuation; it cranked the generator to life on the first attempt. The pungent fumes filled the spaces until positive pressure took over and sucked the exhaust aboveground through the ventilation ducts. Doc heard the main breaker actuate again.
    “We’re good, Doc,” Hawse yelled down the corridor.
    “Okay, bringing up the mainframe.”
    They all returned to the control room to observe the systems as they came online, one by one.
    Doc started the half-hour process of waking the facility in priority order. The mission would be a failure if he could not restore the mainframe and connect with the aircraft carrier. Every password had been memorized by all four men and also written down in a waterproof notebook as extra insurance. The system was synched and encrypted to the previous commander’s common access card. Doc removed the card from the protective sealed case and looked at it for the first time. A navy lieutenant? He had been told the man was a commander. He had heard of some spot promotions here and there since this started.
    He rubbed the gold chip at the bottom of the card with his thumb to make sure it was clean before inserting it into the reader. A log-in screen flashed, requesting a pin. Doc had it memorized but still consulted the notes to be sure. Too many unsuccessful log-ins would result in system lockdown. He carefully keyed 7270110727 . He could hear the system’s RAID drives spinning in response. The pin was accepted and the mission systems status began to display.
    Although they didn’t need the card for most facility functions, the card gave the team full access. Doc clicked on the security icon. A display of eight screens appeared on the desktop. Only five were operational. The screens marked SE, SILO, and ENTRY B were blacked out. The others appeared operational as he could see dark outlines of terrain and fence lines. Doc clicked the icon to change the operational cameras to night-vision mode and then to thermal mode. The camera labeled MAIN DOOR failed the thermal test but functioned under night vision without issue.
    Billy glanced down at his watch. “Boss, sun is up in two hours. We’re gonna need comms.”
    “Disco, make it happen, I’ll watch you here. Hawse, go with him. No one is alone outside the wire.”
    •   •   •
    As the designated communications officer, Disco was charged with humping the medium-sized pelican case from the drop zone all