Milwaukee Deep
Chapter 68

“Michael? Michael, do you copy…Michael?”

Jensen walked up from behind. He placed his hand on Sam’s shoulder.

“He’s gone,” Sam said, “I can’t reach him.”

“The radiation has taken hold, Sam – you won’t be able to reach him any longer - his body’s gone into shock.”

“Is he dead?” Sam asked

“No. But at the very least the pain will be limited now that he’s unconscious.”

Sam looked up.

“Will he die before detonation?”

“It’s hard to say. Given the level of radiation down there, it is possible.”

All five men sat silent for a moment – Sam especially. He stared down at the floor, realising now that he had one last thing to do before all of this was over.

Perks got out of his seat and walked over to Harding.

“So what now?” he whispered.

Harding looked up at Anthony.

“We pack it up. In just under forty minutes this will finally be over.”

“So that’s it?”

“Yes, that’s it – unless you want to stay here and face that tsunami.”

“So we’re not going to try and stop it – evacuate the people?”

“That’s too big for us, Anthony. Stoker knows – let him handle it.”

“So what about us – where to from here?”

“Us?” questioned Harding.

“Sam, Jensen, and me? Do we replace ourselves waking up in the middle of the night with strange men in dark suits aiming guns in our face?”

Harding looked across at Jensen and Sam.

“I don’t think anyone will bother you, Perks. Just make sure you don’t bother them.”

Perks shook his head slightly.

“Who do you think you’re talking to, Tom, a rookie? I’ve been around long enough – they’ll want to tie up loose ends.”

“I’ll make sure they don’t – remember the boys at the top don’t know anything about you.”

“Yeah, but they know about Sam.”

“Look, I’ll take care of it – don’t worry.”

“How?” Perks asked, “Remember, Harding, you’re the one who killed Crane – his fans aren’t about to take orders from you.”

Harding leaned in closer to Perks.

“I told you before – kill the head and the body dies. They’ll retreat, trust me, and Stoker will make sure that you, Sam and Jensen will be left alone. You’re safe - you have my word.”

Perks took a moment. He stared at Harding.

“And what about you? Where do you go from here?” He asked.

“Me? Well, that’s a different story. I’ll disappear for a while – make sure things settle down before I resurface.”

“Where will you go?”

“Not far, but far enough so that they won’t bother me.”

Perks leaned in to Harding.

“And what about Ganton?”

“Ganton?”

“Yes. Now that this is all over and Crane’s dead, you can tell me what really happened with Ganton – why did Willow send him down below?” What was in that letter?

Harding produced a large grin.

“You’re amazing, Perks”

“Well?”

“You have to know every little detail, don’t you?” Harding said almost teasingly.

“It’s in my nature, Tom.”

Harding rubbed his chin

“I’ll tell you what - next time we meet ask me the question again – who knows, maybe then I’ll let you in on Willow’s little secret.”

Time remaining…0:12:19

General Conwrey walked into the Oval Office.

“Well, what’s the status, General?” asked Stoker as he stood up from his chair as Conwrey approached.

“Sir we have issued the warning to all interested parties. Planned evacuations are taking place. We’ve called in all naval vessels, including the Nimitz out of the affected area. Currently we have members from the Coast Guard assisting the Puerto Rican Government with the evacuation of the smaller islands, while the National Guard is assisting with the coast line evacuation of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, Sir.”

Stoker looked down at his watch.

“We’ve got just over ten minutes left – this won’t be enough.”

“Mr President, we’re doing the best we can. Given the time left, we will struggle to evacuate everyone.”

“God help us, General,” Stoker replied, “We’re not going to be able to talk ourselves out of this one.”

Time remaining…0:01:02

It moved slowly towards the large metal door and entered in a six digit code.

A burst of steam escaped as the metal door to the cryogenics zone slid open.

As the mist cleared it could see the bodies lying still in their cryogenic state. They lay hovering, one on top of the other, the line of human bodies seemingly endless.

Time remaining…0:00:28

Walking towards the central control panel, it kept its eye on one particular body - a young man, no more than twenty years old.

Time remaining…0:00:12

Reaching the control panel it searched the database for the next subject.

Time remaining…0:00:01

A bright flash of light engulfed the room.

The sun shone and the sea breeze was comfortingly warm. Adrian North was building an impressive sand castle. He stood back to admire it. A large shadow fell across his creation.

“That’s really impressive, Adrian,” said his dad, “who taught you to build turrets like that?”

“No one. I just saw it on television and thought I could do that. But just wait ’till I’ve finished it.”

“Well, buddy, it’s going to have to wait ’till tomorrow, we need to go in, mum’s calling and you know what that means…”

“But, dad,” argued Adrian, “my castle won’t be here tomorrow.”

“It will, buddy, it will,” said his dad with an easy drawl, “the sea doesn’t come in this far and the wind’s not strong enough to blow down this mighty structure, so, let’s go.”

Adrian got up, collected his bucket and spade and took a long look at his creation. “See you tomorrow Mr Sandcastle,” before walking off, talking excitedly to his dad.

The sandcastle stood there the rest of the afternoon. When the sun set, the tide came in and first filled the moat Adrian had dug out then ran up the beach. With its foundation undermined, the castle crumbled.