Martial Law by Bobby Akart Read Free Book Online Page B

Drew, giving him the side eye , and gave the woman a hug.
    “What’s your name?”
    “My name is Regina Gates. It’s an honor to meet you.”
    “Regina, we’ll do all we can to get you home safely in this mess. Okay?”
    “God bless you, Abbie.”
    “Yes, of course,” said Abbie, wiping the moisture from her eyes. “Thank you. Now, let’s get out of this rain and back on the road.”
    Drew escorted Regina to Ripley’s vehicle, and Ripley shrugged. Drew just nodded as he closed the door behind her. Abbie approached his side.
    “You did a wonderful thing, sir ,” she said, adding a tone of sarcasm to sir .
    “Okay, whatever. We can’t save them all, Abbie.”
    “I understand. But we can save at least two.”
     

Chapter 11
    Sunday, September 4, 2016
    12:40 a.m.
    Eastbound Interstate 10
    Near Live Oak, Florida
     
    Jonesy continued to navigate the Suburban, with Ripley taking the lead. Abbie dozed off in the backseat, so the trio drove in silence for a while. Drew was trying to process things. There were so many scenarios and potential causes.
    He glanced at Abbie, who was getting some meaningful but fitful sleep. He had feelings for her, but the relationship was taboo. Drew tried to remain professional and maintain his distance, but the nature of his job had resulted in a closeness between them. The playful banter and flirting increased, but the rigors of the campaign never gave them time alone together. In Tallahassee, he had become consumed with protecting her. At this moment, he knew with utter certainty that he would give his life to protect her—not because it was his job, but because he was falling in love with Abbie.
    Jonesy was fidgeting and finally broke the silence. Both men couldn’t stop their minds from racing.
    “What the fuck, Drew? What do you think has happened?”
    “I don’t know, man. It’s like we said earlier, there are so many possibilities. I believe we can rule out a solar flare.”
    “Why?”
    “With a solar flare, we would’ve had some warning. NASA and several other agencies, including the National Weather Service through their Space Weather Prediction Center, would have issued alerts. From what I’ve read, SPWC would provide twelve hours warning, but up to forty-eight hours is typical. No, this has to be an attack of some kind.”
    “By whom?” asked Jonesy.
    “Hell, pick one—Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, even terrorists like ISIS. This country hasn’t exactly been making friends in the world over the last several decades. They all hate us. Shit, they may have come together in a joint operation. They’re all butt buddies.”
    “That’s true. But if they nuked us, they would have to know we would hit back twice as hard. You know, the whole mutually assured destruction thing—MAD.”
    “I agree. Plus, realizing we know almost nothing in the way of facts, a lot of this is speculation. But the social media frenzy seemed to relate to the power going down, not a nuclear warhead detonation. It could have been a nuclear-delivered electromagnetic pulse.”
    “But that would take several bombs, wouldn’t it?” asked Jonesy.
    “I agree. A coordinated attack could take down the grid nationwide. But our defenses would be able to react to some of the incoming missiles. To me, that would prohibit a cross-country blackout.”
    “Okay, if an EMP, whether nuclear or solar, didn’t collapse the grid, then what did?” asked Jonesy.
    “Last Christmas, when I was visiting my folks, Pop gave me a book to read called Cyber Warfare . It was a detailed history of the use of cyber attacks by the bad guys we just mentioned, hacker activists like Anonymous, and our own Defense Department. Like Pop said, it was eye-opening.”
    “Yeah, look what hackers did in Vegas back in the spring. They took down the grid on the Las Vegas strip. People died in the mayhem,” said Jonesy.
    “I remember. There was one thing the author wrote that I’ve replayed in my head over and over again.