Short Story
Journey of a Lifetime

It was the middle of the night when I got a phone call. "Hello?" I asked, sleepily.
"Is this Christina?"  A man said in stern monotone voice.
"Yes. Who is this?"
"This is General Williams' assistant, Ken, calling from the Pentagon. You have been requested to join a secret mission. How soon can you get here?"
"Give me one hour," I hung up the phone quickly and jumped out of bed.
I am used to these sorts of calls. I got one about a week ago telling me that my husband, Jason, died in a night raid in Belgium. Ever since my husband joined the war, things have gone badly. Belgium launched a missile strike that hit the Capitol Building in DC as a result of a Belgium terrorist group that implanted chips into the brains of over 7 million people. We have been at war for a little over a year now. The terrorist group keeps moving their headquarters so we’ve had a hard time tracking them. I have been working with the FBI to track down this terrorist group and develop military strategy against them. My husband got caught by the terrorist group so they murdered him. When I got the call, my heart stopped. Tears swelled in my eyes as the fresh memory filled my head but I agreed to go on the mission anyway.

I live about thirty minutes away from the Pentagon building. My phone kept going off while I was driving so I sped up. My Audi reads my text messages and one from the secretary of State said, “THIS IS AN EMERGENCY. GET HERE NOW.” Panic swept through my body. I began to breathe heavily and my pale hands began to shake. I was scared. Soon, I arrived and was greeted by at least a dozen security guards. They led me through the building and below to the emergency operations room on the bottom floor. I walked into a room with a large screen on one wall and a large table where several people were sitting around. All were staring at me and giving me cautious looks. One lady smiled at me and stood up to introduce herself.
She reached out her hand and said “Hi Christina. I am Susan Marshall. I will be leading this mission. Everyone in here is essentially your lifeline while you are in Belgium.”
“Wait,” I said, “I’m going to Belgium? Why?”
“Well, you have been a huge part developing our military strategy therefore we believe you are the best person to deploy it. As you know, the Belgian terrorist group has brain washed the majority of the population. There have been several attempts on their part to hack our government systems. They have to be stopped as soon as possible. Our idea is that we insert a device that has a program that will counteract the current program. This means that all of the people with the programmed chips will go back to normal. The device also has a bomb in it which means that the entire operation will cease to exist. Do you think you can do it?
“Are you sure I am qualified for this job?” I was feeling a little confused.
“Yes. Now will you please sit so we can tell you more? You are scheduled to leave in 24 hours.” She said.
My face went blank as I slid in one of the chairs. The meeting went on for four hours about the logistics of the trip, where I was going, who I was supposed to meet, what my job was; they mapped out everything. The list of details must have been at least 20 pages long. After the meeting was over, Susan took me aside to have a private chat.

“This is a very dangerous mission. What we are having you do is not something that is advised. There is a chance that you will get caught,” She warned me.
“And what if that happens?” I exclaimed.
“We don’t know yet. There will be people on the inside that will help you. You can tell the difference by a yellow dot on the jackets.  But be careful.”
I thought to myself for a moment. I was scared for my life but I knew that I had no other option.
I responded, “I will be fine.” But I really had no confidence at all.

Twenty Eight hours later, I arrived in Belgium. Someone accompanied me but I still had an uneasy feeling in my stomach. It almost felt surreal like I was in a dream.

Mike, the person accompanying me nudged me and whispered “We need to go.” So we got our things and got a cab to drive us to our hotel. When we arrived, we were met by a few people that Susan had told us about. They were working with my husband to search for the leader of the terrorist group. They would be the ones to tell us where to go. The explained to us that they had found the terrorists hide out and that was where we had to go to reprogram the brain implants and shut down their operation. The terrorist group has control over the country and can’t be stopped unless the brain implants fail. We were able to get a copy of their plans and in a couple of days, they will bomb seven major cities in the United States. Our only hope is for this mission to work. After a long day, I decide to go to bed.

When I wake up, I heard strange voices outside my door. I lean my ear and listen. I hear one lady say “I think this is her room. She got in yesterday. She is here with her husband but I saw him leave from a different room this morning. I think we should keep an eye on them. “

“Good idea” another lady said.

Freaked out, I call Mike and told him to meet me for breakfast.

When we finally met up, I told him about the ladies outside my door. We talked about our mission for a while and once we felt prepared we went back to the hotel to get ready. While we were walking in, I noticed a lady staring at me. She whispered to another lady standing next to her and I assume they are the same ones from earlier this morning. I decide to point them out to Mike. After a moment, we looked away and went quickly up the stairs to our rooms.

“The drive was 3 hours long so we will be there by 4 if we leave now.” Mike explained.
I look at him and said “We can do this.” And we left the hotel. Susan said there would be a car for us to use in the parking lot.  Once we found the car, we made contact with the group back at the Pentagon. We double checked the plans and were cleared to go.

“Are you ready? We have to go in and out as quickly as possible without getting caught.”
“Yes,” I told him, “let’s move.”
Before we left for this mission, we were given security badges to get inside the building. They warned us however, that the building was under heavy security and even the badges might not be sufficient. The secret to getting past the guards is to show the badges quickly and then walk on through. Just as we reach the first security gate. I spot the lady from the hotel driving in the car behind us. Scared, I tell Mike to find a place to park far from her. We park behind a small building near the back of the gated area. In the middle was a four story building with no windows. According to the blueprints, the building had six more stories below ground.

There was no one around when we went in the building which made it easy for us to slip through the front door. A few of the people standing around saw us go in but no one looked suspicious. All we need to do is go down three floors. My task is to download a program onto the computer that will deactivate the previous system which could take up to five minutes to complete.

We made it to the third floor when I noticed again the lady from the hotel. She was now in a lab coat. She didn’t seem to recognize us but we still made sure to keep away in case she did. We turned down a side hall towards the stairs that would lead us to the second flood. When we got to the door, a group of men wearing glasses stood there.

“Crap! How are we supposed to get past them without any questions?”
“I’m not sure,” he said nervously.

We continued to walk. One of the guys asked me what we were doing so I said “We are on our way to clean up the bathroom. We were called on by the head janitor who is sick. The cleaning supplies are already down there.”

The guy looked at me for a moment then began moving away from the door and down the hallway. We quickly slipped through the door and made our way to the computer room. We were surprised when we saw what we had walked into. A big room with a computer in the middle. The walls are black and there is almost no light. I scan the room and can’t see a sign of other people. I pulled out the device that the program is on and prepare to download the program. I take a few steps forward before noticing red lasers going in every direction. In a few seconds, a huge alarmed sounded. I run to the computer and inserted the device. Above me, I hear heavy footsteps and yelling. The program is about 50% complete when I hear loud noises from all parts of the room. Out of nowhere I hear gunshots. I can’t see what is happening because it is so dark but I hear Mike yelling at me to run. 75% complete now and I begin to cry. Mike grabs me by the shoulder and tells me we have to go. 85% complete. Tears come pouring down my face. 90%. Voices everywhere screaming. I get dizzy. 95%. People have entered the room now. They have guns pointed at us. Mike is talking to them but I’m not paying attention.

We have five minutes to get out of the building. Mike found a vent that we could climb through and I ran towards it. I see a man chase after us and his face is very familiar. It’s Jason!! I come to a halt and let him catch up with me. I can see his bright blues eyes and his perfectly shaped nose. He doesn’t seem to recognize me but I let him come towards me anyway. 100%! The timer to the bomb begins. Suddenly, my husband’s face changes and he looks confused. He smiles at me and I know the program had worked. He was not dead. He had been brainwashed and working for the terrorist group instead. A part of me of filled with happiness but there is no time to celebrate or think about how mad I am about them brainwashing my husband.

There are men everywhere some with yellow dots on their shoulders who have guns in their hands and are firing at the guards. The lady from the hotel is here now and has a knife and tried stabbing the men but she was shot instantly. All of a sudden, Mike screams. He’s shot. He side is gushing blood. I get dizzy again. I continue to crawl through the vent. I’m scared; my heart is racing. I’m not sure I am going to make it. Then, I hear voices and I know there are people following us. I can see the end of the vent.
“We are almost there” I shout.
Someone opens the vent and I hold my breath. Panic sweeps over me and I feel myself almost black out.
The man says “Christina, it’s okay.”
I take a deep breath. I let him pull me out and we lift Mike out. We manage to get to the car and pull out of the lot. The man came with us. Mike passed out due to lack of blood. I turn and see people rush out of the building yelling and pointing guns at us. One of the guys looks at me in the eye, winks, and turns to the others and begins shooting everyone. The building suddenly blows up. The entire building goes up in flames.

The mission was over and Jason and I were on our way home. He hasn’t been home in a year and I thought he would never come home after the phone call I got. But he was coming with me. Mike didn’t make it unfortunately. He died from the wound. I am devastated that I lost such a good friend. Out of pure exhaustion, I pass out.

Fourteen hours later, I woke up to Susan poking me and congratulating me. She explained what had happened as a result. The program worked and the previous program was overridden which meant all Belgian officials were back to normal. I found out that the lady from the hotel was from Chicago and had been working with the terrorist group and tried to set us up.

Five years later, I wake up to Kira, my three year old girl, crying. I get out of bed and her door. I see my husband standing over her, hands around her neck. I scream and he turns his head. I see the same look in his eyes that I saw in Belgium.

At the same time, I got a phone call. “Christina, get here right away.”