Free Transmission: Voodoo Plague Book 5 by Dirk Patton

remember ever
having heard it.  Scrolling far to the right he checked the column that showed
whether or not the person being processed had family in the military.  It had
an upper case N for no. 
    Roach thought about what he knew about the man.  He hadn’t
been in uniform the night he’d arrived at Arnold Air Force Base with the bitch
and the dog.  Had he been recalled by that damn Army Colonel that had
interfered?  That would explain why this woman had answered no to the question
about family in uniform.  Things had changed that she didn’t know about.
    Minimizing the spreadsheet, Roach logged in to one of the
few military databases that were still operational.  He didn’t know the details
about where it was or how it was still accessible.  All he cared about was that
he could still get in.  Clicking in the search box he typed in the name and hit
enter.  The cursor spun for a few seconds before the screen refreshed with the search
results.
    Staring at him was a younger version of the Major.  The face
was a little leaner and he had hair, though it was cut close to his scalp, but
it was the same hard eyes.  The same little sneer of the upper lip that
silently communicated “I can kick your ass and I know it”.  The nose was
straighter, apparently having been broken at least once between the time of the
photo and when Roach met the man, but it was without a doubt the same prick.
    The record showed the Major had declined to re-enlist about
10 years ago, leaving the Army as a Master Sergeant.  Other than basic details
such as date of original enlistment, his entire file was classified.  But Roach
knew there was a part that wouldn’t be.  Clicking a couple of links he quickly
found what he was looking for. 
    Four years ago the Major had requested a copy of his DD-214,
the paperwork showing a person’s dates of service, type of discharge from the
military and some other minor information about them.  Roach didn’t care about
the dates, or whether or not he had received an honorable discharge.  He wanted
to know where the forms were mailed, and there it was.  A street address in the
same suburb the woman had listed as her home.
    Roach felt energized.  He had that fucker’s wife!  And the
best part, the Major, if he was still alive, would never know she was here
unless Roach decided to tell him.  With a smile he scrolled back to the left,
selected the entire row that contained Katie’s information and pressed delete. 
She would be his little secret. 

11
     
    Dog growled a second time, raising his head higher and
twitching his nose as he sampled the smells the strong wind was bringing to
him.  Rachel looked at him, then looked east again, but still saw nothing other
than an empty horizon.  Regretting her failure to approach the two men and be
safely in a vehicle, miles away by now, she got to her knees to gain some
elevation.  Still nothing, and Dog continued to growl.
    Growing more concerned by the moment, Rachel finally stood
to her full height and moved to the higher ground near the Interstate.  Dog
stayed next to her, between her and whatever had him worried, pushing against
her with his body.  He wanted her to start moving west.
    Standing still, Rachel looked again.  When she still failed
to see any danger she raised the rifle and peered through the scope, slowly
scanning across the horizon.  Her breath caught in her throat when she saw four
razorbacks moving across the field no more than 300 yards away.  Their black
coats blended well with the dark mud and when she looked without benefit of the
scope’s low power magnification she couldn’t spot them even though she knew
where they were.
    They hadn’t seen or smelled her or Dog yet.  The wind was
from their direction and was gusting, so she wasn’t concerned about scent.  But
did they have good eyesight?  This she didn’t know.  Usually the animals with
the best vision were predators, and based on her limited knowledge of the