Free Radioactive Omnibus- A Prepper Survival Story by BJ Knights Page B

him from the breakfast line.
     
    But I didn’t get to finish my mush!” Coyle said.
     
    Jim was taken into a separate tent and shackled to a chair. The MP he disarmed made sure to give him a nice pop in the stomach before he left. Once the MP left, an officer in fatigues entered the tent. Jim could only make out Locke’s silhouette, the circling smoke that rose from the tip of his cigar, and the four stars shining on his hat from the sunlight at the entrance of the tent.
     
    “Jim Farr, former officer and specialist in Navy Intelligence. Honorably discharged after twelve years of service and three combat tours during which he earned twenty commendations, two Purple Hearts, and the Navy Cross,” Locke stated.
     
    Jim saw that Locke was reading from a file. Locke paced around Jim, puffing on his cigar and intently focused on the contents in his hands. 
     
    “Now why the hell would someone who was awarded the Navy Cross attack two MPs at a military refugee camp?” Locke asked.
     
    “The military and I haven’t really seen eye-to-eye over the past few years, General,” Jim answered.
     
    Locke chewed on the end of the cigar.
     
    “I can see that,” he said.
     
    Locke’s assistant Chris dragged a chair inside the tent with him, and handed Locke another file. Jim could hear the creaks of the chair stressing under Locke’s weight.
     
    “Goddamn I’ve gotten fat,” Locke said. 
     
    Jim never had patience for Admirals, Generals, or Commanders. They had long left the trenches of battle where Jim had spent most of his career. Jim surveyed the heavyset man in front of him with the cigar tucked into the corner of his mouth. His eyes finally came to rest on the nametag of the General’s fatigues.
     
    “General Locke?” Jim asked.
     
    “We can talk about your father later, Farr. We have other pressing issues to worry about.”
     
    Locke motioned to Jim’s cuffs. “You can take those off,” Locke said.
     
    “General, I highly suggest—” Chris said.
     
    “Dammit, Chris, he’s not going to kill me. Take the cuffs off,” Locke said.
     
    Chris hesitated for a moment, but walked over and set Jim’s hands free. Jim rubbed his wrists and Locke handed him a photograph.
     
    “That’s your brother in-law, Matt Kearny. He was picked up during the evacuation of Phoenix two weeks ago. Do you know what he does?” asked Locke.
     
    Jim looked over the photo of Matt in his hands. It was taken somewhere in a downtown area.
     
    “He’s an engineer for some software company,” Jim said.
     
    “PamTech. They’re one of the military’s largest contractors. They handle a lot of our digital security platforms. You’re brother-in-law was one of their lead engineers who handled a majority of our accounts. Our CIA boys picked him up and have him in a holding cell just east of Phoenix,” Locke replied.
     
    “You think he has something to do with all of these attacks?”
     
    “That’s something I was hoping you could help me with. Matt was in charge of all of PamTech’s digital security functions. He had a security clearance higher than anyone in the company and we need him to grant us access to those files to see if they’ve been tampered with.”
     
    “Why don’t you just break through their fire wall? I know the military has enough resources to do it.”
     
    “We tried, but the files aren’t on their network. We think they’re on a stand-alone hard drive. We need Matt to tell us where it is.”
     
    “How long have you had him?”
     
    “Jim, we’re running out of time. If we don’t get that data, then we could be open for more attacks. Hell, we still have riots happening all over the country. We need—”
     
    “How long?” Jim repeated.
     
    “Two weeks.”
     
    Jim clenched his jaw. His hands curled into fists, crumpling the edges of the photo. He looked to Locke, but not before he noticed Chris’s hand at the firearm on his hip.
     
    “My sister has been asking about him since