Planet of the Dead (Book 1): Planet of the Dead by Stowers John

Planet of the Dead (Book 1): Planet of the Dead by Stowers John

Author:Stowers, John [Stowers, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Zombie Apocalypse
Publisher: Black Dog Press
Published: 2019-12-22T05:00:00+00:00


Chapter 15

I must have made my way back and fallen asleep at sometime in the night because my alarm jolted me awake at 0530 hours. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, and pulling my clothes on as clumsily as a zombie, I prepared for what would need to be done today. Approaching the serial killer case like any other project, I grabbed a pencil and my legal pad and began to jot down the day’s ‘to do’ list. Around 0600, I heard footsteps outside and opened my door. There stood Hart and Wilson with three hot steaming cups of black coffee.

“Thank you, gentlemen,” I said, taking one of the Styrofoam cups from Wilson. “Come in. I’ve sketched a plan.”

The three of us took seats around the table from the night before. I quickly told the story of how I had slipped out and added a fake body to the pile at the crematorium, and my subsequent fear that we might be dealing with a serial killer. Hart and Wilson both shifted in their seats and sat up straighter. They both seemed to be coming alive, and I don’t think it was just the caffeine–they were into the chase.

“As a Major,” I began, “I could simply order any lower ranking officer in the technology department to give us a report of missing ID numbers, but he would probably report that to his immediate supervisor and it might get back to the killer. So what I need you men to do is find me a hacker. We’re not breaking into the Pentagon here, but it will take a little finesse.”

“When we checked ID numbers before, we made up some bullshit about barracks assignments and running short on rations,” Hart said. “Why can’t we just do that again, and then have tech print us a list of all the ID numbers?”

“We could.” I answered, “But I’m thinking that going through two hundred thousand ID numbers by hand could get pretty cumbersome, and there’s a good chance that if only one or two are missing from the sequence, we might miss them. No, getting a report of missing numbers will be more foolproof. Of course, if we can’t find a hacker that we can trust we’ll have no other options.”

“This sure is a lot harder than setting up a supply run for plywood and two-by-fours,” Wilson commented.

“Are you gentlemen up to the task?” I asked.

“Ah, Major, you’re hurtin’ our feelings,” Wilson drawled.

“Sorry, Wilson,” I said, “I just know that I’m asking you men to do a lot of work that’s well above your pay grade.”

“Pay grade?” Hart grinned. “That’s a good one, sir. I’m not sure if we’ll ever get paid again.”

“True,” I agreed, “but then again, who knows if any of us will ever have bills to pay again.” Then switching back to the real topic at hand I asked, “Any other questions, before I cut you loose for the day?”

“No, sir,” they said in unison while standing to attention.

“Then you’re dismissed.” I said, adding, “And gentlemen, good luck.



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