Inferno

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Hector Flores and Javier Perez were a quarter mile from the lodge. They had snuck out just after the electricity went off, during the hubbub from that time until the generators kicked on, the two kitchen helpers had made their move.

They followed a little used dirt trail leading away from the property, assuming that whoever was watching the place might not know about the trail. As they started to go around a bend and into a more open area, Perez smelled something. He also saw what appeared to be a raging fire somewhere ahead

"Hey Hector, you smell that? You see that?"

Flores stopped and dropped to one knee, he raised his head and sniffed the air. It was the smell of burning, the smell of death. He motioned Perez to wait, then he moved forward at a crouch.

Ahead of them on the trail, was a burning vehicle, with at least two bodies inside.

"Javi, come up here." Flores hissed at his companion.

"What is it?" Then Perez saw the burning car. "That's Hollister car, yeah?"

"Yeah, those have to be some of the guards in there. I know Hollister went out with the QRF, none of them came back."

"The other guys left in the vans, right?"

"Si, somebody decided to take Hollister's car as well. Looks like that was a very bad idea."

Flores started to speak when a voice came out of the shadows ...

"Deberíais correr, muy rápido.¹"

Flores and Perez took off running down the trail. The nightmare was out there, in the shadows, they were everywhere.

Hawthorne was getting desperate, Conwell had informed him that more of the lodge's staff had fled the premises. Otto Birmingham had died of his wounds thirty minutes ago, and now his phone was ringing. Maybe it wasn't the government who had cut the service.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, Mr. Hawthorne, my name is, well, my name is unimportant. It should suffice to say that I represent the United States government. Did Congressman Birmingham die yet?"

Hawthorne went pale as a sheet, "Who the hell is this, I am a member of the ..."

"Not anymore you aren't. You and the rest of the SIlver Dozen were impeached late last night. The House of Representatives sent it on to the Senate, who voted unanimously to convict. You and your colleagues have been stripped of your offices. Now, you re nothing more than a criminal illegally occupying government property."

Hawthorne sat down heavily in the nearest chair. "How dare they do that when ..."

"Tried in absentia, I'm sure you're familiar with the term. It's a new day Franky-boy and you and your friends aren't part of it. Welcome to the ash heap of history."

Miles away, in Washington DC, LCDR Josh Higgins set a phone back in its cradle. He looked white as a sheet. President Nakagawa noticed immediately.

"What now, Josh?"

"We have reports of a nuclear exchange between the Chinese and Indian navies."

"What?!"

"The Chinese naval detachment headed for the Middle East was hailed by an Indian patrol vessel. The Chinese opened fire."

"An Indian attack boat was in the area and fired a torpedo at the Chinese task force. It was a nuclear torpedo."

"Dear God ..." the President stared into space, his worst nightmare seemed about to become reality.

"A Chinese submarine was also in the area and returned fire, with another nuclear tipped torpedo. Fortunately they missed, but Beijing will learn of this soon."

"Get the Chinese on the phone, we need to settle this or things are going to spin out of control." Nakagawa headed for the White House Communications Room. As he left he turned to Bill Aspinall, "Get Nightwatch prepped ASAP, we might need it before the night is through."

"What about Hawthorne and the Dozen?" Aspinall asked as he pulled the President away from the rest of the staff.

Nakagawa thought for a moment, thought of the number of people who had already died and the thought of untold millions dying if the missiles flew. All because of men like Hawthorne and their political aspirations.

"Burn them down, no survivors."

After speaking with the unnamed man on the phone, Hawthorne had been confused. He knew they were trapped, Congressman Abrahams had stepped out into the open with his hands in the air, shouting "I surrender."

He had watched in horror as the man's head seemed to explode. He sat there, wondering if he had any moves left. The glass to his bedroom shattered. He saw a smoking hissing cylindrical object spinning on his bedroom floor. He wondered ...

The blast destroyed most of the room and killed Hawthorne instantly. Other devices began exploding throughout the lodge. Within moments the building was ablaze with all of its occupants lying dead or near death.

Howard keyed his satellite phone, "Hi, this is Mo Whitson, I'm out on Greathouse Road, just north of Frank. My son and I are out here camping and we heard this series of loud booms. Looks like the big hunting lodge up there is on fire!"

The dispatcher at the local police tried to get more details, she knew exactly which lodge the man had been talking about, but the man had hung up almost immediately. She got on the radio and started the fire fighting effort rolling.

She knew it would take time to get crews out there, but she had to try.

It was her job.

¹ You should run, very fast.